Pursuit of HappYness - review

[howeird]

Very short review because this is a highly depressing movie. Will Smith does some fine acting, and a lot of running, most of it jay-running blindly in a mad rush. The kid who plays his son was on loan from the California Home for the Terminally Cute (yes sinmix, your alma mater). I won't look up his 4-name moniker because nobody will remember it 10 years from now after his parents have invested his hard-earned royalties in real estate and with compounded interest he and they will never have to do a lick of work again. And I won't bother to look up the name of the woman who plays Will's not-as-long-suffering-as-she-could-have-been wife, because they cut her part too short for an Oscar.

Will's character jumps through a series of smaller and smaller frying pans, getting more and more depressing and desperate, as he tows this poor child behind him all the way. The 90 seconds of happy ending don't nearly make up for the 2 hours of suffering. And no easter eggs in the trailers, either.

Lots of familiar character actors in the brokerage, they made one of them look like a junior Donald Trump. And some gratuitous footage of Glide Memorial's choir which I FFed through.

This movie needed an original score - the sound track of random pop songs was spotty and left me wanting more. OTOH, an original score probably would have made the movie even more depressing.

Enuf already. I think I'll play some music to cheer me up. Songs of the Depression should do it.

Comments

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

Um, you did realize that the part of Will Smith's son was played by Will Smith's actual son?

Pursuit of Happyness

[bigcatroary.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was his son, so that was appropriate. Thandie Newton is a cutie who I saw when I sat in the audience of a Letterman show a few years back. The movie was much too depressing. I spent 2 hours pursuing the inevitable happiness. Too long a wait for what you knew the ending would be.

[edith-mf.livejournal.com]

I think I kind of was in a room where this was playing with the sound off within the last three months, but now can't remember where or why. At least something depressing and towing a kid around through the lot of it.

Not a fun take on life the universe and everything.

[cinchntouch.livejournal.com]

The part of the son was played by Jean Harlowe.

[scendan.livejournal.com]

Wow. Ok, I will give that a miss, even if it is excellent. Thanks for the warning. Sometimes I am in a space in life to watch egregiously depressing flicks. This is not one of those spaces.