The Pursuit of Happyness review

Number 394 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 2006 biographical drama 'The Pursuit of Happyness.'

Based on the true story, Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is a down-on-his-luck salesman. Seeing an opportunity to save himself and his son Christopher (Jaden Smith) from homelessness, he enrolls in a stock-broking internship. But the journey proves a lot harder than he ever thought it would be.

I must have first watched this film over ten years ago before revisiting it for this challenge. And it still remains absolutely brilliant. It is inspirational, but heart-breaking. It is poignant, but never overly-sentimental or cheesy. In many ways, it is the American Dream in action. Chris Gardener starts at rock-bottom, but through determination and hard work, he makes a true success of himself. For some, the American Dream is purely just that, but for Gardener this dream became reality.

Will Smith was absolutely fantastic. This was the first time that I really took notice of him as a dramatic actor, and he was well-deserving of the Best Actor nomination. After he and his son are evicted from their motel, they spend a night in a public bathroom with the door barricaded shut. When a cleaner tries entering, Christopher locks the door and silently breaks down. Ten years later, this scene still brought tears to my eyes. I don't cry often at films, but this was a true exception. Beyond that, Smith turned Gardener into a well-rounded and passionate character. To succeed as a stock-broker, Gardener is told that he needs to be good with numbers and good people. And Gardener is certainly a charismatic character.

Jaden Smith, Will Smith's real-life son, was also very impressive. He was only five-years-old, but he brought a different element. We saw the stresses of poverty through the eyes of a child. Christopher Jr doesn't understand why he can't go back into the motel room after being evicted. He doesn't understand why he has to sleep in a homeless shelter. 

And this confusion and pain was equally heart-breaking to watch. But Jaden also provided so much humour to what could have been such depressing and hard-going film. He was just as charismatic as his father. And the two of them had great chemistry, which wouldn't be surprising considering they are father and son. However, the two of them have appeared together in subsequent films which have been less than well-received.

I've been speaking a lot about the men, but I cannot forget Thandie Newton who plays Chris's over-worked wife Linda. She has to work two jobs to cover Chris' lack of income. This stress eventually leads to her breaking down and leaving her family. Although I wasn't entirely clear on why her son had to stay with Chris, and not go with her, Thandie Newton also excelled in this role. She was one of the most sympathetic characters in this film; constantly trying to fix an inherently broken marriage that cannot be fixed.

The Pursuit of Happyness was such a great watch. In one second it will be knocking you to the ground, but the next it will be picking you back up. And just remember what Chris Gardener tells his son: "don't ever let anybody tell you that you can't do something."

Seven Pounds review

 Number 658 on the top 1000 films of all time is the drama film 'Seven Pounds.'

Ben Thomas (Will Smith) is a man seeking penitence. He is a man looking for redemption who seeks to change the lives of seven people. Two of these include the blind, vegan, meat salesman Ezra (Woody Harrelson) and Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson) a printing business owner with a weak heart.

Will Smith is a hell of an actor. He first came to fame in the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Although he is goofy in that he also shows his raw potential as a dramatic actor. And that potential came to the fore within Seven Pounds - one of his most mature roles to date.

*Spoiler alert* Ben Thomas causes a car crash that killed seven people including his fiance. To make up for this, he donates his organs to people he thinks really deserve them. he uses his brother's IRS agent's credentials to help track down these people. Sure you could argue that story itself was all very unlikely Ben Thomas proves himself to be a jack of all trades, including repairing a broken printing press, but I was willing to suspend my disbelief.

I do enjoy a good redemption arc. They start with an already likeable character knowing that he's messed up. And now he is hoping to make up for his mistakes. And when you have Will Smith playing that character things are even better. Will The supporting cast were also good.

Both Woody Harrelson and Rosario Dawson were very likeable as the unwitting recipients of Ben Thomas' good deeds. neither of them are in desirable situation, but they always remain positive. Rather than pitying themselves, they still do the best they can.

The same can be said for Ben Thomas. In many ways, he is an inspirational character. And this inspiration lends the film a lot of emotional weight. it becomes the driving force that propels Seven Pounds along.

The true film's structure can be confusing. You have to wait the entire film to discover Ben's true motivations, but I still very much enjoyed Seven Pounds. It showcased Will Smith at his best.

MegaMind review

 Number 990 on the top 1000 films of all time is the animated superhero comedy 'Megamind.'

Megamind (Will Ferrell) is a supervillain in Metro City. He has a fierce rivalry with super hero Metro Man (Brad Pitt.) However, after Megamind seemingly kills Metro Man, he feels lost and powerless. That is until he creates a new super hero. But this super hero quickly becomes a villain which Megamind must beat to save Metro City.

I totally see what this film was going for. It's trying to be a clever re-invention of the superhero genre. But a parody of a cliche is still a cliche. Megamind pointed out plenty of the cliches present within the superhero genre, but instead of subverting them like arguably better film, it tries to put a funny spin on them and fails miserably. Like many superhero films, Metro Man and Megamind have a big dialogue in the build-up to their final confrontation. Yet this dialogue gets progressively sillier and it adds nothing to the overall plot.

That's also a prime example of the film's poor attempts at humour. Many of the jokes fell completely flat and Will Ferrell's lacklustre performance did nothing to help things. He tried doing an imitation of Vito Corleone in the Godfather, and it was one of the worse imitations I've ever heard. Brad Pitt was was surprisingly uncharismatic as Metro Man.

Megamind and Metro Man are in themselves parodies of Superman - both are alien refugees sent to earth as their own planet is sucked into a black hole. Metro Man is handsome and popular at school, while Megamind is ugly and bullied. He goes onto begin resenting Metro Man before fully embracing his role as a supervillain. 

And that's largely all I can remember from this film, as I kept falling asleep. I wouldn't even say it was a kid's film, because I don't think it would be that entertaining for children to watch. Or for anybody to watch for that matter.