Life isn't beautiful.
The world makes sure things around us are ugly, and we are all involved in the day-to-day job of the title, the quest for complete happiness.
Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is one such man who wants to keep his family happy and bring up his son (Jaden Smith) well, because Chris himself was abandoned by his father, only meeting him after he'd turned 28.
He tries hard to make ends meet as a salesma, selling medical bone-density scanners to doctors, but he isn't good at this.
One fine day, he happens to meet a man driving a fancy sports car, and asks him what he does for a living.
The man replies that he is a stockbroker.
Images: Will Smith & son get Happy
On that very spot, Chris decides he will take up a job as an intern with a stockbroking firm and make it big, though he never gives up his own part-time sales job. This decision results in him breaking up with his wife (Thandie Newton) who moves out. She doesn't want to live with a failure who, at this age, is going backward in life by being an intern.
Facing a mid-life crisis and nowhere to go with his son, Chris hangs on with a never say die attitude to make it a big as a stockbroker.
He has no money to pay his rent, and is thrown out onto the streets. He and his son stay on roads amidst homeless people at the night. During the day Chris works at the stockbroking firm, not at all sure if he would get a job after the internship is over.
Based on a book with the same name, The Pursuit of Happyness is the real life story of self-made millionaire Christopher Gardner who today owns Gardner Rich & Co. But when you see the film, the story truly seems hard to believe.
By the way, 'Happyness' is wrongly spelt because that's the way it was spelt in Chris' son's daycare centre.
Directed by Italian director Gabriele Muccino, the film fails to justify how he manages to convince his bosses to get a job as an intern in a stockbroking firm, or realistically trace his character's growth through the film.
The character of Chris is overtly glorified, and one wonders when his frustration would turn into anger, but that never happens.
There is too much running in the film by Chris, always in a hurry -- chasing thieves, getting late for work or picking up his son.
The film's high point comes from Will Smith's great performance, and some truly touching dialogues.
Smith has made a brilliant effort, as has his son Jaden, and the two keep the film's interest alive throughout the film, which itself drags past the interval.
In conclusion, despite being a true story, Happyness seems too good to be believable.
Rediff Rating:
