♥♥♥♥♥
+ Best Biopic of the Year + Best San Francisco Movie of the Year + Deserved Hit of the Year
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| Hollywood father and son star Will Smith and co-star Jaden Smith in a cute moment make up this poster for Gabriele Muccino's The Pursuit of Happyness |
In Reagan's 1980s America, we follow Chris Gardner, a savvy salesman in San Francisco, who struggles with selling a hopeless product and a wife who doesn't believe in him, attempting to keep alive his dream of a better life and be a good father to his son.
The Pursuit of Happyness is written by Steve Conrad (Wonder (2017)), based on the same-titled 2006 memoir by Chris Gardner and Quincy Troupe, and directed by Gabriele Muccino (Ecco Fatto (1998)).
Forget the sappy vibe that the poster erroneously creates: The Pursuit of Happyness is a wonderful, strong, human and very American film - about overcoming hard odds in life.
It is a film full of situations that this reviewer at least recognized from his own life, borne by an almost heroic trooper in Will Smith's (Ali (2001)) front and center performance. Jaden Smith (The Karate Kid (2010)) proves also a find as his son, - their interplay goes straight to the soft spot in the heart, and God bless them both for this film.
Thandiwe Newton (God's Country (2022)) is good at being the exhausted, sour wife here, although she at times over-plays it a bit. James Karen (The Return of the Living Dead (1985)) is especially good in a supporting part. The Pursuit of Happyness is soberly told with a good eye for details. The ending packs a strong emotional wallop, (and real-life Gardner actually walks by in its last fine shot.) It is an outstanding, uplifting film of survival and overcoming poverty and despair.
Related post:
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 55 mil. $
Box office: 307.1 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 5.58 times its cost)
[The Pursuit of Happyness was released 15 December (North America, Mexico, Croatia) and runs 117 minutes. Shooting took place around September 2005 in California, including in San Francisco. Smith's profit participation deal reportedly netted him an incredible 71.4 mil. $ pay for the film. It opened #1 to a 26.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 5 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#2-#2-#3-#5), grossing 163.5 mil. $ (53.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 22.6 mil. $ (7.4 %) and Italy with 21.3 mil. $ (6.9 %). Smith was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, lost to Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland. The film was also nominated for a David di Donatello award, 2 Golden Globes, among other honors. It additionally made in excess of 90.5 mil. $ on the North-American home video market alone. Muccino returned with 3 short, video and TV credits prior to his theatrical return with Seven Pounds (2008). Smith returned in I Am Legend (2007). The Pursuit of Happyness is fresh at 67 % with a 6.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
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