BalekFekete
Shared on Wed, 03/28/2007 - 08:42When reviewing movies here in the blog or out on the forums, I try to pay particular attention to keep them spoiler-free for those people who have not yet had a chance to take in any given flick. However, with this review/commenting, I'm not going to keep to that practice, so be forewarned…
Ok, now with that little public service announcement out of the way, The Pursuit of Happyness, starring Will Smith, was released on DVD yesterday. Having heard quite a lot of buzz around the movie during the Oscar season and such, it seemed like a solid addition to the DVD collection and a good movie for some husband/wife time last night. My wife picked up a copy while out shopping during the day, and after putting our youngest two to bed we settled down to the movie.
The movie is based off a real life story of Chris Garner, a down-on-his-luck salesman in a down-on-his-luck relationship with a blessed-from-God son. While trying mostly in vain to sell an overpriced, unnecessary medical device on the streets of San Francisco, he develops the desperate aspiration to become a stock broker. However, as well all know well in business, getting in is the hardest part. The ‘ol Catch-22 – Can’t hire you without experience, but without being hired, how does someone get experience. As the story goes, one of the brokerage houses has a regular internship where 20 people actively compete for 1 job. Pretty bad odds if you ask me, but Chris takes them and goes for the dream. Unfortunately, the mother of his son doesn’t get on board, and leaves him with his son to fend for themselves. Without giving any more away, it goes on and on this way…trial after trial after trial. I found myself genuinely feeling bad for this guy, and hoping that somehow it would stop and just let him have peace.
That was the first 98% of the movie. The last 2% of the movie is the payoff. Again, won’t go into the details, but it all ends well and this is the story that movies are made of, literally. With that said, the movie left me emotionally drained and thinking of my trials and failings, both past and current, and honestly didn’t give me a warm and fuzzy feeling about it. I was thinking “Why the hell am I / did I watch that?!?” This was what spawned the subject of this entry. I really did feel lousy while watching most of the movie.
Fortunately, the movie had a redeeming quality that overshadowed the negativity that it fostered in the viewer – for those of us with children, the relationship and unconditional love the father had for his son was palatable and contagious. I couldn’t help but walk upstairs and give each of my sleeping children a kiss on the forehead, thinking of how blessed I am to have them irregardless of whatever else I may have to deal with in this world. That was the payday. That was what made this movie so damn good.
So, long story short – see this movie if you have had hard times, or are going through hard times. Or more importantly, see this movie if you have children. It will give you a fresh look at the love they have for you, and you for them. And THAT is worth the price of admission.
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Comments
Submitted by Devonsangel on Wed, 03/28/2007 - 08:59
Submitted by CapnHun on Wed, 03/28/2007 - 09:29