Pursuit of Happyness

We finally got around to renting The Pursuit of Happyness and I have to tell you, I didn't really like it much. I had heard great things from many people, but it didn't do much for me. I was looking forward to watching not only because of the good reviews I had heard, but also because I like Will Smith and I wanted to see how he would handle a more serious role. In the end, I was disappointed.

Here's what bothered me about it. At the heart, the story is great. There's nothing better than a guy who beats the odds, and through sheer guts and determination makes a better life for himself and his family. It's the complete American dream. The problem was that it took WAY TOO LONG to get to the success story. The movie is a little over two hours and it's depressing (I mean way depressing) until the very last 2 minutes. I would have liked a much shorter span of depression. It's always a bad thing when you find yourself repeatedly looking at the DVD timer and figuring out how much longer you have until the movie is over. But that's what Matt and I found ourselves doing several times throughout the show. We even fast forwarded through a long scene (which we never do) because it was just too much. We get it - life was really, really, hard for the guy, EVERYTHING went wrong - but it doesn't take 128 minutes to show us that.

My other beef with the movie is that while I respected all that Smith's character did to start over in a new career and support his boy all by himself, I thought he was unlikable in some significant ways. He was abrasive, quick to be cruel and somewhat violent. He yelled way too much. He grabbed his wife and son violently more than once. He yelled at people who happened to get in his way. He just really wasn't a nice person. And if you think about what a movie is trying to say or what its affect is - the hero is one who should be emulated. While I would want my children to do everything they can to support their kids and succeed in life, I would never want them to adopt some of the disturbing behavior Smith exhibited toward even those he loved, nor would I want them to that it is acceptable behavior.

So that, in a nutshell, is why I wasn't a big fan of the movie. Interestingly enough, we watched
Mr. and Mrs. Smith the following night and I liked that much more. Most likely because despite the fact that it was ridiculously silly and the end was so implausible, it wasn't trying to be anything more than an entertaining movie, and that's what I needed that night.