The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Directed by Gabriele Muccino
A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.
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What critics say influenced The Pursuit of Happyness
The film rather started to remind me of Zhang Yimou's To Live, a 1994 film about the endless hardships endured by a Chinese family as their fortunes plummet.
We're left with a queasy mix of "Working Girl" (1988) and Vittorio De Sica's "The Bicycle Thief" (1948).None of these problems can be laid at the door of the actors.
It reminded me of the same sweet spot between movie star and regular person that Julia Roberts was able to hit in "Erin Brockovich."
Set in San Francisco during the early 1980s (there's a Raging Bull poster tossed in, if you don't believe me), the film has Smith's Gardner lugging around useless medical props, watching over his kid (Jaden Smith, Will's son) after his wife (Thandie Newton, again playing the shrew -- where's the lyricism that Bertolucci and Demme mined?) leaves him, and attending a competitive stock-broker internship while sleeping in subway restrooms.
It also doesn’t help to see a Raging Bull ad roll past atop a taxicab; segueing by association, I’m no fan of Taxi Driver, but this movie would have benefited tremendously from a couple of drops of its vitriol.
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Some critics have already noted that the film is like an American version of Bicycle Thieves, Vittorio de Sica's masterpiece of Italian neo-realism.
“The Pursuit of Happyness” many times borders on fairy tale territory in the vein of “In America,” in which our characters are always in the area of danger, but never in life threatening danger.
Will Smith's performance here recalls his outing in "Six Degrees of Separation" (1993), where he likewise played an aspirant to the high life, trading on smarts and charm but fired by a gnawing desperation.
It's been clear since 1993's "Six Degrees of Separation" that Mr. Smith has significant talent to match his charm.
His breakthrough was in another serious role, Six Degrees of Separation, and he was excellent in Ali.
Granted, this is no Glengarry Glen Ross, but it shows the pressure these salesmen are under and how important the contact lists are.
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Did you know that Jim Carrey almost played Buddy the Elf and that Will Ferrell turned down a massive payday to do a sequel?
As portrayed in the fluidly realized if statically dramatized film - by Gabriele Muccino, director of the 2001 Italian version of "The Last Kiss" making his English language debut, and written by "The Weather Man" screenwriter Steve Conrad - Gardner was a smart and dogged man whose best efforts at the end of the day, more often than not, found him two steps back from where he started.
The film was Based on a True Story, yet, as written by Steven Conrad ( "The Weather Man" ) and directed by Gabriele Muccino (whose excellent "L'Ultimo Bacio" was recently non-excellently remade as "The Last Kiss" ), it avoids being heavy-handed or preachy like so many Based on a True Storys.
Italian director Gabriele Muccino (whose film "The Last Kiss" was recently remade with Zach Braff) keeps a low profile, allowing the Smiths to carry the day.
Making his U.S. debut, director Gabriele Muccino (whose credits include the original 2002 Italian version of "The Last Kiss") seems less interested in contrasting Chris' pursuit of the American Dream (even as his life threatens to become an American Tragedy), opting instead to focus on his bond with his little boy.
After his art-house successes "The Last Kiss" and "Remember Me, My Love," Italian director Gabriele Muccino's first English-language film is a rousing triumph.
As with his film The Last Kiss (remade earlier this year with Zach Braff), he is quite skilled at hitting all the appropriate emotional peaks and valleys, though his hard logic leaves a bit to be desired.