Pursuit of Happyness

I just watched this movie yesterday and boy, what a movie it was from various perspectives!

Firstly, it is a powerful story. A true story of perseverance against seemingly insurmountable odds. Yes, I realize it was a movie that was inspired by a true story; meaning that the screen-writer may have taken liberties. However, I have also read that it was pretty close to how it happened.

In this day and age where people feel entitled to everything, complaining at the first sign of trouble, trying to point the blame at the government, foreign workers, predatory banks -- in short, anything but the man in the mirror, Chris Gardner's attitude was inspirational. He could very easily have quit, gone wayward or taken any other easy route but persevered.

To top it off was Will Smith's performance. Bravo! What range! Over the years we have seen him in various larger-than-life personae. He was Fresh Prince the rapper, agent J the alien fighter of the MIB and the teflon fighter pilot Steve Miller -- again fighting aliens in Independence Day. What a switch for this movie. He was completely believable as the down-and-out, destitute Chris Gardner. His acting was very controlled and powerful. It's a shame he didn't win the Oscar.

In the off chance that you haven't seen the movie I won't go into specific details other than saying that you owe it to yourself to watch the movie. You will not be disappointed. However, you may go through some Kleenex.