The Pursuit of Happyness - PG-13
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Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that Will Smith will draw kids to this movie. But it's not an action flick or slapstick comedy -- it's an inspirational but often emotionally wrenching story. It includes some very sad scenes between family members, as well as a couple of emotionally scary ones. The mother becomes so frustrated with her husband's inability to make a living that she leaves him and their son. Later, the father yells at his son for a trivial reason and gets in a fight, scaring the boy and making him cry. If your child is in a clingy period with you, this might upset him or her. There's a very brief allusion to the mixed effects of classism and racism on the son. The father's frustration sometimes leads to tears and sometimes to angry language (mostly damn and "s--t"). A graffitied "f--k" leads to a brief discussion of the word, and the son says it out loud.
Families can discuss the appeal of stories like Chris'. Why do people like rags-to-riches tales? Why are they considered good material for movies? How close do you think the movie version is to the true story? Families can also talk about the risks that Chris takes to provide a "better life" for his son. How does the movie show that little Christopher is both scared of having no place to sleep, but also utterly trusting of his dad? Is it OK that Chris tells a white lie in front of his son to get a job? How does the film portray the decision by Christopher's mother to leave him? From whose point of view do you see this choice?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Cynthia Fuchs
Jaden Christopher Syre Smith is adorable. And in THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS, he delivers an endearing performance: He scrunches up his face, tells knock-knock jokes, and earnestly declares love for his beleaguered fictional father (played by real-life dad Will Smith). He even manages a convincing 30-second tantrum, when Christopher, the 5-year-old character he's playing, finally loses what seems to be his infinite patience and cries because he has no bed to sleep in.
Unfortunately, young Jaden's very good work can't quite save the film's sentimental, simplistic structure. Set in 1981 San Francisco, Pursuit begins as Chris and his wife, Linda (Thandie Newton), are having troubles. She works double shifts doing hotel laundry; he's trying to sell bone density scanners (i.e., specialty medical machines that, as Chris admits in voiceover, are too expensive for most doctors to buy). When Linda abandons the family, Chris remains determined. He spends six months working in an unpaid internship at Dean Witter, dead set on becoming a stock broker. He's smart enough and good with numbers, he figures, having proved that much by solving a Rubik's cube in front of a Dean Witter broker. As he studies and scrapes by, barely earning enough each week to pay for meals, Chris is sure he's going to make it.
You know he's going to make it, too, because Pursuit is based on the story of the real Chris Gardner, who not only ended up with his own brokerage firm (which he eventually sold for millions), but also wrote a book and told his story on Oprah. Perhaps the film's adherence to his point of view explains the scant attention paid to Linda's perspective: She looks only selfish and sad, while Chris looks noble, even during his occasional outbursts. When he makes little Christopher cry, Chris looks aptly abject, apologizes immediately, and soon assuages his son's fears, usually by asking, "Do you trust me?"
This concept of trust is central to Chris' self-image. In his voiceover, he unironically ponders the effective meritocracy of the American Dream, focused on Thomas Jefferson's phrasing in the Declaration of Independence. He's especially impressed that Jefferson was wise enough to see that the "pursuit" of happiness -- not happiness itself -- was all that might be deemed a right, at least for those considered entire people at the time (as opposed to, say, the 3/5ths people that slaves were determined to be).
It's useful for Chris' rather Reaganite worldview that the film doesn't deal with racism, on either institutional or individual levels. Instead, Pursuit of Happyness insists that all opportunities are available to everyone, regardless of class, education, or color. Chris repeatedly demonstrates a winning quickness and self-deprecating wit -- the movie, too often and slow-moving, isn't nearly as smart.
Fans might also want to see another up-from-hardship movie starring Smith, the excellent Ali, or other films with similar themes, like Ernest Dickerson's Our America and ATL.
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Sexual ContentMother appears briefly in her bra and panties while changing into her work uniform. |
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ViolenceParents' loud argument worries their son; Chris is hit by a car, leaving his face bruised and clothes bedraggled; father yells at son for crying, frightening him into obedience; Chris starts to fight a man in line at a shelter, frightening his son, who cries. |
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Language"F--k" written as graffiti on wall, noted and spoken by father and son; several uses of "damn," "hell," "s--t," "ass," and "a--hole." "You suck" written on wall. |
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Social BehaviorPerpetually irritated mom abandons her son; noble father dotes on son and is dedicated to taking care of him. He takes his son along on job-related excursions and lies in front of him (the kid looks appropriately skeptical when he hears it). Chris also briefly discourages and yells at his son, after which he is immediately apologetic. Chris's gamble proves right at the end. |
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CommercialismMost products are used to mark the year (1981): A Rubik's cube figures prominently in the plot; Members Only jacket; Raging Bull movie poster; Magic Johnson poster, Captain America action figure. Chris goes to work for the Dean Witter brokerage. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoMom smokes cigarettes several times. |
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