It's been a while since I've

blogged, because I've been selfishly self-absorbed trying to determine what I'm going to do with the rest of my life, and that means I'm going to be starting my own Pursuit of Happiness soon.

I think partly to try and get me motivated, my girlfriend and I decided to go see someone else's story of being down on their luck and coming out ok. You know.. a "pick me up" kind of thing.

So off we went to see Will Smith portray the actual Chris Gardner, He is a bright guy starting to feel some age, with limited prospects – he sells bone-scanning equipment to doctors but is often rejected, since the Doctors think of the machines as an "unnecessary luxury" He's trapped by the machines, which is the sole support for himself and his family.
One day he walks buy a building and sees a bunch of smiling people coming out and thinks.. "Those guys are happy, what can't I be happy too?"

Well, for starters, his wife Linda (played by Thandie Newton) is becoming a scarecrow of overworked anxiety, and is just looking for a reason to get out. The only saving grace Chris has is his son Christopher, who gets left at a day care nest in Chinatown, and the cheapness of the place is one of many abrasions that finally drive Linda away. The rest of the story features father-son bonding, very effective because it's almost never pushed cloyingly, and because Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, Will's son, fits like a kid glove.

So, Chris starts schmoozing, trainee program for aspiring brokers at Dean Witter. But he can only survive the long tryout by selling the damn machines, which rarely sell. By now he's a single parent, and his son misses mom and the apartment Chris couldn't pay for, and none of the chirpy suits at Dean Witter realize that brisk, affable Chris is scraping by on nerve and small change.

Director Gabriele Muccino gets some charm from bits like the Rubik's Cube or a lost shoe, but nothing softens the pain of being down to $12.44 or living in a shelter. At rock bottom, Chris enlists his son's childish imagination to patch their spirits together.

By all counts a guy like Chris should, by the odds, have more friends or relatives as backup. But the story shows human strength, partly because Smith shows credible weakness when he must. Will Smith as always been good in comedy, and he started to show maturity in drama with “Ali,” and this wonderfully subtle, engaging but never drippy performance again deepens his range and appeal.

The Pursuit of Happyness isn't earth shattering in it's delivery, nor is it unpredictable. You KNOW what happens, but it doesn't mean that it isn't moving at the end. It's one of the few movies made in America that deal with people live and survive.

The Pursuit of Happyness - B