Few modern-day movie careers are impressive and robust at the box office as Will Smith’s, with roles that have often cast him as the hero, rarely the heavy. Seriously, the man’s Q rating (a test that judges a celebrity’s popularity) must be through the roof.
Nary a misstep in his big-screen resume, he saved the world from nasty outer space creatures in both “Independence Day” and the “Men in Black” series, turned himself into a global icon in biopic “Ali” and even caught the crooks in “Bad Boys.”
Now, however, in “The Pursuit of Happyness,” he tackles what might be the most important and complex character he’s ever taken on: Dad.
In “Happyness,” based on a true story, Smith is Chris Gardner, a San Francisco father who’s short on money but overflowing with love for his 5-year-old son. What Gardner quickly realizes, however, is that unlimited affection won’t pay for rent, day care, nor the occasional parking ticket. No matter what Paul McCartney says, “all you need is love” really isn’t true.
Whereas in Smith’s many other films — where the storyline had not a whiff of realism — the scenario in this movie is played out all over the States, by millions of people, every day. And it’s nice to see the actor bring that humanity to his performance, which will most likely earn him the second Oscar nomination of his career (the first was for his role in “Ali”). Though the movie isn’t perfect and may have a few naysayers, it’ll only be voters with the hardest of hearts who won’t strongly consider Smith here for Hollywood’s highest honor.
Fears about how he’ll provide for his child’s welfare are constantly weighing Gardner down. He travels around the city — by public transportation, of course — trying to sell bone-density machines to doctors, and without much luck. Then, to make matters worse, his wife (Thandie Newton) decides she can’t handle the financial insecurity, moves to New York and leaves her son in Chris’ very shaky hands.
Realizing he’s never going to be able to provide his son (played by Smith’s real-life child, Jaden) a stable life as a salesman, Gardner earns an internship at powerhouse brokerage house Dean Witter, in hopes of turning that into a position as a full-time broker.
Here’s the catch: the internship has no salary attached and Gardner — juggling between studying textbooks and trying to rub two nickels together — can’t afford a place to live.
It’s during these dire circumstances where Smith gets to shine, unlike in any other film he’s done before. Trying to protect his boy from reality as best as he can, the two sleep in the bathroom of a subway station, all the while turning the awful circumstance into a sort of game to try and make it seem less traumatic. He holds back his tears as best as he can but it’s no use: the emotions are just too overwhelming, and the bravado of Smith’s earlier films is quickly washed away here.
That’s meant as a huge compliment. What every actor wants is diversity from role to role, characters that are complicated and have different facets to their lives. If Smith was rounding up bad guys in every movie, where would the challenge be in that?
“Happyness” is a bit of a misnomer. Far from a joyride, it’s a film in which the audience — like its characters — must endure boatloads of suffering, yet keep hoping for some sort of redemption at the end.
And Smith, it turns out, is just the right protagonist to make this journey worthwhile. It’s no venture to outer space or the even the distant future, but this one might just be his greatest, and most worthwhile, trip ever.
Stuart Levine is a senior editor at Variety. He can be reached at stuart.levine@variety.com.