The WaPo movie review of “The Pursuit of Happyness”

I have been eagerly awaiting the release of Will Smith’s new movie The Pursuit of Happyness, in which he stars as a homeless father who has this ‘never say quit’ attitude towards succeeding. A brief synopsis of the movie:

The rousing, true-life story of a single dad who went from living on the streets to working on Wall Street is brought to the big screen by superstar Will Smith, appearing for the first time opposite his real-life son Jaden Smith. Set in early-’80s San Francisco, the film charts the hard times and eventual comeback of Chris Gardner, a divorced salesman who wins custody of his son, but finds that providing for the two of them is a challenge in the increasingly unstable economic climate. He struggles to work his way from unpaid intern at Dean Witter to something more substantial, even as life continues to offer him setbacks. Making his Hollywood debut, Italian director Gabriele Muccino was championed by Will Smith for the project. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

The movie debuts in theaters today.

All the previews I’ve seen of this movie suggest an empahsis on the very important role fathers play in the lives of their children (something that, IMO, we don’t see nearly enough of in movies and TV shows today), as well as promotes the idea that you can do anything you want in life: you just have to want to work hard for it (gasp!).

Surprisingly, the WaPo gave this pick-yourself-up-off-the-floor-and-dust-yourself-and-try-again movie a decent review. You can read it here. The NYTimes review is a little less charitable, as it characterizes Smith’s character as not just wanting a humble house to raise his son but a mansion. Sigh … I guess it’s wrong to dream big. But overall, their write-up wasn’t too bad – not for the NYT, anyway.

In any event, all signs point to this one being a “must-see.” It should be especially enjoyable seeing that Smith’s son Jaden plays his son in the movie – rumor has it he steals the show :)

Hat tip: Brian at Iowa Voice

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