|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Based on a true story, The Pursuit of Happyness is set in the early 1980s. It is the fragility of the institution of marriage that is its target, writes Ervell E. Menezes
IF Thomas Hardy thought that happiness was an occasional episode in the general drama of pain, our hero Chris Gardner (Will Smith), a bright but marginally employed salesman, thinks it is even less so, being stuck with medical scanners he isn’t able to sell to support his family. That’s the premise of The Pursuit of Happyness (so spelt in his son’s daycare centre). Chris’s luck deserts him and it’s a series of mishaps that have them virtually in the gutters. In a land of mortgages and instalments, Chris’ wife Linda (Thandie Newton) is sick of his excuses and decides to leave which makes Chris a single parent and he and his five-year-old son Christopher (Jaden Christopher Syre Smith) are evicted from their apartment and forced to spend nights in bus stations, shelters for the poor and even bathrooms. He lands an internship in a prestigious brokerage firm and between trying to sell those scanners and attending classes, it is the cute kid who is worst hit. There is a very touching sequence in which he asks his dad if "mom left because of me". It is a very imaginative and moving screenplay by Steven Conrad and Italian director Gabriele Muccino is able to build up the pathos admirably. In fact it borders on the comic with some amusing anecdotes like the time Chris after being hit by a car is looking for his fallen shoe amidst heavy traffic. Localed in the Pacific heights of San Francisco it lends enough scope for Phedon Papamichael’s caressing camerawork but it is the father-son bond that is the most saleable quality. It is reminiscent of a similar relationship in The Full Monty, but here the boy is even younger. Based on a true story, it is set in the early 1980s when Scorcese’s Raging Bull and Rubrick’s Cube were the rage, but it is the fragility of the institution of marriage that is its target. Slowly but surely this duo is about to touch rock bottom. Chris’s determination is stoical though the manner in which he overcomes his hardships is less convincing. Will Smith and his real life son Jaden Christopher Syre Smith are both excellent and when Jaden tells him "you’re a good papa", it is sure to bring a lump to the most hardened throats. Thandie Newton is as academic with her "whatever" magic word but The Pursuit of Happyness is real scary stuff. Well worth going through this experience.
|
|||
|
|
|||
