Inspired by a true story, Gabriele Muccino's 'the pursuit of happγness' is a heart-warming narrative that epitomizes the poignant relationship between a father and a son, captured through various phases of life!
Chris Gardner (Will Smith), a salesman, runs from pillar to post selling bone-density scanners, a medical equipment device, for a living. He finds it hard to make ends meet as he tastes little success with his profession. Married to Linda (Thandie Newton), Chris is blessed with Christopher (Jaden Smith), whom he cherishes, more than anything in his life.
Chris's life is deprived of what every lower-middle-class family is deprived of. Happγness! Desperate to get relieved from the cruelty of a discontented life, Chris decides to get rid of the ill-fated scanner business, and looks out for a new calling.
He gets to know about an internship program at a Stockbroker firm, Dean Witter Reynolds. Chris slips into a tête-à-tête with Jay Twistle, Resource Head at Dean Witter and makes the best of the opportunity by solving the Rubik's Cube immaculately! Jay Twistle, who observes this amazing ability of Chris, pulls him to the internship program, but without any salary. Chris now had the onus of outsmarting other interns, because only one intern was hired for Dean Witter from a pool of 20. Also, he never quitted the scanner business, as it was the only source of income. This meant, he had to slog all day long!
Things go awry, when Chris Gardner takes a double blow, Linda deserts the family to lead a separate life at New York and Chris finds himself ousted out of his apartment by the owner, owing to his constant slippage in paying rents. He had nowhere to go! Fraught with debt, to the Income Tax Department, his bank account would be locked anytime. He was literally bankrupt. Crestfallen Chris hits the nadir of his life! Left with no options, he wanders like a nomad in the streets of San Francisco, along with his son. And out of the blue, Chris takes a bizarre decision to spend the rest of the night at a rest-room (read cave) of a railway station!
Oh, Gosh! What scene that was! I wonder how a director could craft the best scene of the movie in a rest-room!!! Kudos to Muccino! Chris and his son confined to a rest-room! Chris locks the rest-room and parks his right leg against the door, to prevent people from gaining access to the rest room. At one point, an outsider persistently tries to unlock the rest-room, and Chris tries to stop him from the other side of the door, clutching his son who's in the middle of a deep sleep, and tears trickle down the cheeks of Chris. Just imagine!
That scene stands out. I am sure it would have deeply moved Al Pacino!
After all the tribulations that he had to undergo, Chris Garden finally sees the light at the end of the tunnel as he emerges successful in the internship program and eventually gets hired by Dean Witter.
The dialogues & interludes between Chris and his Son were impeccably penned & captured. Worth a special mention is the top-angle shot at the rest-room! Although the movie moves at snail's pace, one can't really reprehend the director, because movies such as this, ought to progress slowly and the script badly demands it. Music was no great shakes, although it had great scope!
As far as the performances go, well it's a one-man-show. Will Smith dons the role of a father to perfection, and it's Will Smith all the way.
A job well-done Mr. Gabriele Muccino!
2 comments:
I use to see many ‘drama-genre’ movies. Sometimes I get struck with some good movies. This is one such a kind. My mind is engrossed with the film and the conversation between Chris Garden and his son Christopher keep lingering in my ears. Something, I find worth mentioning is about Will Smith performance in the climax scene after he got the job. As you have mentioned Al Pacino would have appreciated this performance.
Yeah... We rarely get to see such movies, where the script & screenplay define things... Actors are mere puppets at the hands of script...Indian Cinema has along way to go on that context!
Post a Comment