The Pursuit of Happyness (PG-13) ★★½

While The Pursuit of Happyness could very easily be subtitled The Pursuit of Sappyness, the terrific father-son dynamic between Will and Jaden Smith is enough to make for an effective tearjerker--barely.

Story

Even if you're one of the 19 other people in a competitive internship at Dean Witter with Chris Gardner (Will Smith), you gotta root for the guy. Life's beaten him up but not got him down. He lugs his computer-monitor-sized bone density scanner all over San Francisco, hoping to sell just one to make ends meet for his family--but nobody's buying. As his wife's (Thandie Newton) discontentment nears a boiling point, Chris accepts an internship at financial institution Dean Witter--six months without pay and only one of the 20 applicants will ultimately get a job out of it. This sends her packing. She leaves Chris and their son, Christopher (Jaden Smith), to fend for themselves, at which point they get evicted. It's the tip of the iceberg, because over the course of Chris' penniless pursuit of the Dean Witter job (and "happyness"), he and Christopher will get by sleeping in homeless shelter--and even in train-station bathrooms. Chris had always vowed to never leave his son, and he keeps his promise, but there's no guarantee that his perseverance will pay off. Except for the fact that Happyness is "INSPIRED BY A TRUE STORY"!

Acting

Will Smithis getting all the awards buzz, but it's his real-life son, Jaden, who transcends all expectations in Happyness. Jaden's never acted in a movie before, and it's safe to assume that because of his father's long-running movie stardom, he could not have grown up in a more different environment than that of his character. Which makes it all the more amazing for this 8-year-old Hollywood tyke to grasp, even if coincidentally, the plight of a nomadic urban child. The best part about little Jaden is that his performance doesn't seem robotic like so many child actors who are already too "seasoned" for their own good. Aside from the expected cutesy laughs, there's genuine spontaneity in Jaden's performance, obviously thanks to the fact that he's acting opposite his dad. Papa Smith gives what's probably his best performance to date, although he's had a career of primarily action roles that weren't exactly conducive to a skills showcase. He delivers the goods here--as seen in the tear-rific trailer--as a man whose whole life is his child, but frankly, the tears evoked might be too few for Oscar's liking. Newton (Crash), in a small role, is terribly miscast, but Mr. and Mr. Smith dominate the screen anyway.

Direction

Even with the studio flaunting the movie's "Inspired by a true story..." tagline like a badge of honor-as studios tend to do--and this being the holiday season and all, Italian director Gabriele Muccino expends way too much effort into the crowd-pleasing/feel-good aspects of Happyness. The happy ending everyone already knows about should be saccharine enough. Granted, this is why a studio loves true stories--one that begins on a low note, ends on a really high note and fluctuates all over the radar in between--and it may make the film more pleasing to its targeted mainstream audiences, but Muccino and writer Steve Conrad (The Weather Man) really take the gloss factor much too far. In this case, they essentially try to tell us a mostly sad story, but will not let us feel sad. For instance, during what could be very dark, reflective scenes, potentially connecting with viewers who have struggled through similar problems, music befitting a children's tale overtakes the would-be drama, so we don't ever feel too badly for Chris. It's nice that the director cares so much for us, but oftentimes the best directors are the ones who show an audience tough love.

Bottom Line

Hollywood.com rated this film 2.5 stars.