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The Pursuit of Happyness, a review by Rich

Pursuit of Happyness



Inspired by a true story, Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is a bright and talented, but marginally employed salesman. Struggling to make ends meet, Gardner finds himself and his five year old son evicted from their San Francisco apartment with nowhere to go. When Gardner lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, he and his son endure many hardships, including being homeless and living in shelters, in pursuit of his dream of a better life for the two of them.

Feel good tale of a man determined to succeed and provide a better life for him and his son, gritty portrayal of sheer perseverence.
Will Smith is admirable in his role, but his son in real-life Jaden outshines him and looks like a future star unless Hollywood ruins another promising child actor. The interplay between them is clearly natural and never forced, and helps the movie tick along at a good pace.
As a viewer you can relate to the various trials and tribulations that Gardner faced, and how he overcomes adversity to obtain his 'happyness'.
A cynic might question why a man dragged his young son through homeless shelters and sleeping in toilets, when he could have taken a normal job and put a roof over his head.
But aside from this I found it an enjoyable movie, perhaps a must see, heart-warming and emotional.
 


(From Riches Random Reviews on March 18th, 2009)

The One, a review by Tom

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Title: The One
Links: IMDb | Wikipedia

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Year:	2001 / United States
Director:	James Wong
Writing:	Glen Morgan (Writer), James Wong (Writer)
Rating:	15
Length:	87 Min.
Video:	Widescreen 2.40
Audio:	English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Spanish: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Subtitles:	English, Hindi, Spanish

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Stars:
Jet Li as Gabe, Yulaw, Lawless
Carla Gugino as T.K., Massie Walsh
Delroy Lindo as Roedecker, Attendant
Jason Statham as Funsch
James Morrison as Aldrich, "A" World Inmate #1

Plot:
From the director of Final Destination comes a wild, action-packed trip to the future starring superstar Jet Li (Romeo Must Die, Lethal Weapon 4) in an incredible dual role as a police officer in a fight for his life and a universe-hopping assassin obsessed with terminating it. Also starring Carla Guhino (Spy Kids), Jason Stratham (Snatch) and Delroy Lindo (Gone in 60 Seconds) and loaded with explosive action and jaw-dropping effects beyond your wildest imagination!

Awards:

MTV Movie Awards	2002	Nominated	Best Fight	Jet Li vs. Himself
Saturn	2001	Nominated	Best Science Fiction Film
Taurus Award	2002	Nominated	Best Fire Stunt	David Wald, Hiro Koda

Extras:
Bonus Trailers
Commentary
Featurettes
Interviews
Scene Access

Disappointing. The premise sounded something which could be fun, but also something which could easily be done wrong. For some reason this movie just didn't click with me. I was glad about its short runtime (though it seemed to be longer).

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on October 3rd, 2010)

Smallville Marathon #2, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Clark hides out in Metropolis under the alias "Kal" and has become a criminal in order to finance his lifestyle. The Kents have to sell the farm, they and Lana are still looking for him. There's one person who knows where he is but she's promised him not to reveal it. Meanwhile Lex "lives" on a tropical island with some other guy and tries to get off it.

My Opinion: Great continuation of the story. Though I haven't understood why Jonathan and Pete didn't try to knock him out with Kryptonite. Ok, they did that last time but that proved to be successful. I understand that using the same plot twice is uncreative, yet if it were for real I doubt that they wouldn't have tried it again.
I also liked Michael's performance on the island, he did a better job than Tom Hanks (What a boring movie!).

Synopsis: Both Clark and Lex return to Smallville and both have to deal with what happened lateley. That means that Lex has to straighten out what really happened on that plane and if his wife had anything to do with it. And Clark has to deal with a Metropolis crime boss who threatens his parents and he has to apologize to a whole lot of people.

My Opinion: It was a good conlusion to this four-parter. Unfortunately it ends with Clark's break-up with Lana against her expressed wish and he is retreating into his shell again.
I liked to see Rutger Hauer in the role of the crime boss, if it were for me, it could have lasted longer than these two episodes but unfortunately he had to share the fate of bad guys who know Clark's secret.

Synopsis: A "meteor freak" attacks Lana in the school pool and a secret vigilante shoots him to death. He has killed before and his next target is Lex whom he believes to be a meteor freak, too. Clark can save Lex once again but that makes him also a target. Unfortunately the shooter has found Clark's Achilles' heel and he uses Kryptonite bullets.

My Opinion: I liked the theme of the episode: Are all meteor-infected people murderous freaks? If I were in Clark's position I wouldn't have told her (Lana) my secret either. Her point of view at the begin of the episode was quite firm and although she said that she wouldn't mind if Clark were bullet-proof (i.e. a meteor freak), I wouldn't be sure that she really wouldn't mind. This topic will surface again, especially in one of the key episodes of the fourth season: Pariah.
I also liked the Eastwood-y way he protected himself from the bullets and put Lana's mind at rest (at least for a while).

Synopsis: Clark has the weirdest day: He somehow can fly, he skinny-dips with Lana, Lex finds out his secret and a young girl is chased by a mysteriously hooded figure in the woods and disappears into the ground. But then he awakes, after he's been asleep for 36 hours. He learns that new neighbours have moved into Lana's old house and that there's a young girl in a coma.

My Opinion: I wonder what insurance company insures the Kent's truck and what garage does the repairing. It had been in several very heavy crashes and was even blown up. Maybe they just like the brand and the colour.
I liked the episode because it had a different angle than usual.

(From Smallville Marathon #2 on May 26th, 2008)