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Category:    Home > Reviews > Drama > Comedy > The Pursuit Of Happyness (Blu-ray + DVD-Video)

The Pursuit Of Happyness (Blu-ray + DVD-Video)

 

Picture: B+/B-     Sound: B+/B-     Extras: B-     Film: B

 

 

Poverty is an ugly thing to suffer through no matter where you are.  There is the myth that some people don’t know they are poor, but when you are in a first-world country like The United States, it can be especially difficult.  It is also a country that is supposed to offer the best chance for success and the myths say it is easy if you just work for it.  Gabriele Muccino’s The Pursuit Of Happyness (2006) was one of last years best films and did not get enough credit for its boldness.

 

Will Smith plays Chris Gardner, a man in a problematic relationship with the mother Linda (Thandie Newton) of his child (Jaden Christopher Syre Smith) and trying to provide for all.  Unfortunately, they both have to work and he has invested in medical devices that are supposed to make him rich, but keep him poor and much worse as the relationship with Linda disintegrates, he is determined to raise his son and make it.

 

He sees opportunity possibly working for a major money firm, but has to battle against everything from homelessness, starvation, robbery, pain and constant rejection that has destroyed countless lives.  The portrayal of Chris Gardner by Smith is another step forward and up for the actor, who never missed a beat in this painstaking story and harsher look at reality than major studio films seem to be capable of these days.  Steve Conrad’s screenplay never sells out or softens the real life story.

 

So much so in fact that audiences did not embrace its honesty and spirit as much as it should have.  Newton is good during her screen time, Jaden Smith is taking after both parents at their best and the portrayal of the rest of the characters in the film are smooth and well-acted.  Gardner turns out to have some exceptional math skills, has imaginative ways of thinking, is inventive and even has a knack for the then-new Rubik’s Cube.

 

All that and he still goes through the ringer and then some.  It proves that you can have all kinds of talent and valuable skills to offer and be treated as disposable.  This tale takes place in the later 1970s roughly and in many ways, opportunity has become tougher than ever.  That his son has to go through the nightmare is all the sadder.  It reminds us that we have a long way to go to live up to the title, which is an ironic play on the famous axiom about rights in America.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image on the standard DVD is not bad with consistent and clean images, but it really takes the 1080p digital High Definition Blu-ray version to bring out the smart cinematography by Phedon Papamichael, A.S.C., with hardly any digital degrading or tampering.  This is increasingly rare, but except for shooting with the slightest bit of shade, this is one of the best looking films of the year on a technical level and a logical candidate for Blu-ray.  Though it is not the best HD disc out there, it is one of the better ones to date.

 

Though this is a film on dialogue, personal experience and ideas, it has a good 5.1 sound design just the same that is very clean, clear and professional.  Both discs have a decent Dolby Digital mix with all of its limits and compression, but the PCM 5.1 exclusive to the Blu-ray is much better, warmer and fuller.  Andrea Guerra’s score is easy to underrate.

 

Extras in both versions include full length audio commentary by Muccino, Father and Son: Onscreen and Off, The Man Behind the Movie: A Conversation with Chris Gardner, Making Pursuit: An Italian Take on the American Dream, Inside the Rubik’s Cube and the audio-only clip of “I Can” not used in the film.

 

In one last irony, the son is carrying around an action figure of Captain America of all superheroes.  It is missing its shield and some other items, but it is on the complete side.  Without reading too much into this and the filmmakers only took it so far, but it has enough of a point taken.  But most interesting of all, it was an 8” Mego Captain America, which in complete form is going for hundreds of dollars.  Though they would have had to wait too long, if The Gardners could have invested in those toys, they’d have a fortune now since the company went out of business by 1983 and often command the highest prices around.

 

Sometimes, it is just about the decisions you make.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo


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