A bold question beats at the heart of this based-on-a-true-story drama: is happiness attainable while negotiating the American Dream, an idea which has failed so many people? Chris Gardner (Smith) doesn’t think so, at least not while his life is in free-fall. Following a misstep into private enterprise, he takes an unpaid internship on Wall Street. But it doesn’t hold back debt-collectors, nor stem his wife’s impatience. Push comes to shove and the now penniless father-of-one is out on the street, caring for his son and trying to keep his job. This stage of his life is called the mother of all juggling acts.

In many regards, truth gets in the way of a good story when The Pursuit of Happyness is struck down by a golden ending. Notwithstanding reality, it’s an excellent reinforcement of the notion that not all journeys are about arrival. Getting there is the pleasure of this thoughtful, classy film built around the utterly compelling Smith. Acting alongside his own son he plays Gardner straight, toning down trademark charm to present a complicated man determined to do what’s right. It pays off handsomely as he oscillates between loving father and the urban rage which inevitably gets the best of us all. These deep, well-rounded characters give Muccino scope to question the nature of happiness while giving the American Dream a bit of a battering.

The Pursuit of Happyness may sound like the ultimate chick-flick, but it’s also a melancholic observation of failure in the most credible circumstances – are we not all one beat away from disaster? Pleasingly, it rests on an optimistic bed of hope that suggests anyone, given enough courage, can beat the odds.

// COLIN FRASER