RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / The Pursuit of Happyness
The Pursuit of Happyness

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Bookmark and Share

The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
66 %
Tomatometer

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted: 163

Fresh: 108

Rotten:55

Average Rating: 6.4/10

Consensus: Will Smith’s heartfelt performance elevates The Pursuit of Happyness above mere melodrama.

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for some language

Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Dec 15, 2006 Wide

Box Office: $162,586,036

Synopsis: In The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is a family man struggling to make ends meet. Despite his valiant attempts to help keep the family afloat, the mother (Thandie Newton) of his... In The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is a family man struggling to make ends meet. Despite his valiant attempts to help keep the family afloat, the mother (Thandie Newton) of his five-year-old son Christopher (Jaden Christopher Syre Smith) is buckling under the constant strain of financial pressure. No longer able to cope, she reluctantly decides to leave. Chris, now a single father, continues doggedly to pursue a better-paying job using every sales skill he knows. He lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, and although there is no salary, he accepts, hopeful he will end the program with a job and a promising future. Without a financial cushion, Chris and his son are soon evicted from their apartment and forced to sleep in shelters, bus stations, bathrooms, or wherever they can find refuge for the night. Despite his troubles, Chris continues to honor his commitment as a loving and caring father, using the affection and trust his son has placed in him as an impetus to overcome the obstacles he faces. Columbia Pictures presents in association with Relativity Media an Overbrook Entertainment/Escape Artists Production The Pursuit of Happyness starring Will Smith, Thandie Newton and introducing Jaden Christopher Syre Smith. The film is directed by Gabriele Muccino and written by Steven Conrad. The producers are Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch, James Lassiter and Will Smith. The executive producers are Louis D’Esposito, Mark Clayman, David Alper and Teddy Zee. The director of photography is Phedon Papamichael, ASC. The production designer is J. Michael Riva. The film editor is Hughes Winborne, A.C.E. The costume designer is Sharen Davis. The music is by Andrea Guerra. The Pursuit of Happyness has been rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for Some Language. The Pursuit of Happyness will be released by Columbia Pictures on December 15, 2006. -- © Columbia Pictures [More]

Starring: Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Dan Castellaneta, Thandie Newton

Starring: Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Dan Castellaneta, Thandie Newton, Brian Howe

Director: Gabriele Muccino

Director: Gabriele Muccino
Screenwriter: Steve Conrad
Producer: Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch, James Lassiter
Studio: Columbia Pictures

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Trailer
    >
1 of 1

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Mar 27, 2007

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for The Pursuit of Happyness

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
Arrange By: Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Tom Meek
Boston Phoenix

Even the most superficially glossy of surfaces can't completely extinguish the genuine emotions running beneath them here.

Full Review Source: Projection Booth | comment Comment
04/06/08
Rob Humanick
Projection Booth

Few films so convincingly portray the titanic struggle that some people face day in and day out just to survive.

Full Review Source: BrandonFibbs.com | comment Comment
02/28/08
Brandon Fibbs
BrandonFibbs.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
06/23/07
Jam! Movies
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Hokey title, but sometimes movie is good.

Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | comment Comment
05/10/07
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

In an effort to make a crowd-pleasing film, the horrors that Gardner must have experienced on the streets feel glossed over by the Hollywood machine.

Full Review Source: UGO | comment Comment
03/24/07
Brian Tallerico
UGO

The American Dream as white, rich and all male.

Full Review Source: WBAI Web Radio | comment 1 Comment
03/21/07
Prairie Miller
WBAI Web Radio

Will Smith gives the performance of his career in a movie for which phrases like "heart-warming" and "life-affirming" were made.

Full Review Source: IGN Movies | comment Comment
02/19/07
Todd Gilchrist
IGN Movies

Sem jamais tratar o papel como uma simples oportunidade de mostrar seu alcance dramático, Will Smith comove justamente por demonstrar o esforço de seu personagem para se conter em momentos de grande emoção.

Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena | comment Comment
02/03/07
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
02/03/07
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
02/03/07
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out New York

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Three Movie Buffs | comment Comment
02/03/07
Scott Nash
Three Movie Buffs

You may come out rebuking yourself for your laziness or your choices or your fatalism or your fears, but you will come out glad you saw this movie.

Full Review Source: Cinerina | comment Comment
01/31/07
Karina Montgomery
Cinerina

We may wonder if happiness can be bought this way, and whether the film being sold to us isn't a slightly suspect package, but Smith, sublime and moving, sells it regardless.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
01/17/07
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph

Relentlessly grim but in a phony, Hollywood kinda way.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
01/14/07
Jamie Graham
Total Film

Bonding convincingly (as you might expect) with his own son on screen, Smith delivers his most compelling performance since Ali.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
01/14/07
James Mottram
Channel 4 Film

Deserves kudos for avoiding saccharine sentiment, but its relentless emphasis on money as the cure for all ills is depressing. They might as well have called it The Pursuit of Richyness.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment 2 Comments
01/14/07
Paul Arendt
BBC

Plays like an unravelling of the Eighties comedy hit Trading Places. Instead of a smart-Alec street hustler who turns the tables on his seemingly benign patrons, we have a smart saint who simply wants to join the club.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
01/14/07
Charlotte O'Sullivan
This is London
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
all

Latest News for The Pursuit of Happyness

January 16, 2009: UK Critics Consensus: The Wrestler Pile-drives The Critics, But Don’t Waste any £s on Seven Pounds
With critical success for Slumdog Millionaire last week (94%), we have more award-friendly fare in the UK cinemas this Friday in Darren Aronofsky's spandex-tastic The Wrestler.... More...

March 04, 2008: Rush Hour 3 Takes '07 DVD Rental Crown
It may not have been quite the box-office phenomenon that its predecessors were -- and critics may have disliked it enough to keep it down at 20 percent on the Tomatometer --... More...

January 16, 2008: The Day the Earth Stood Still Adds Jaden Smith
His participation in a new Karate Kid is still only the stuff of rumors, but Jaden Smith has officially joined the cast of another remake. More...

January 10, 2008: Box Office Guru Preview: Captain Jack and Captain Morgan Set Sail
For the first time in three weeks, studios will pack a Friday with plenty of new releases as four films open or expand nationwide giving the box office chart a major shakeup.... More...

See More Topics...

Related Forums for The Pursuit of Happyness

Click here to be the first to post a message on this forum.

See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
79%
79%
Gran Torino
30%
30%
12 Rounds
23%
23%
Confessions of a Shopa…
—
The Code
39%
39%
Inkheart

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
22%
22%
Push
12%
12%
The Unborn

More New Releases…

RT On Current TV

What’s Hot On RT

Deconstructing Harry

Deconstructing Harry

Pt. 3: Cuaron's darker Prisoner of Azkaban

Best Mockumentaries

Best Mockumentaries

From Borat to Spinal Tap, this one goes to 11

Humpday Clip

Humpday Clip

An exclusive peek at the indie comedy!

Half-Blood Prince

Half-Blood Prince

How good is the 6th Harry Potter?

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Weekly Ketchup: T.J. Hooker Film in Development
38
  • Warners Shortens Green Lantern Wishlist Source: Hollywood Reporter
134
  • Harold Ramis Talks Ghostbusters 3 Source: MakingOf.com
42
  • Spider-Man 4 Gets Its Third Writer Source: Latino Review
60
  • Warners Wins Favorable Ruling in Superman Case Source: Variety
20
  • Remo Williams Rides Again Source: Risky Biz
10
  • Mortal Kombat 3 Filming in September? Source: Slashfilm
82
  • MacGruber Gets a Director Source: Variety
39
  • PG-13 Turns 25 Source: VideoETA
8
  • Weekly Ketchup: Universal Takes on Asteroids
92
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Deconstructing Harry, Day 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
83
  • Deconstructing Harry, Day 1: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
67
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Transformers and Ice Age Tie for Top Spot
59
  • Deconstructing Harry, Day 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
53
  • Total Recall: Mock Docs That Rock
46
  • Critics Consensus: Bruno is Certified Fresh
44
  • Tomatometer Watch: How Good is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince?
44
  • Five Favorite Films with Kathryn Bigelow
39
  • RT on DVD: Knowing, Push, The Unborn Unleashed
28
  • Five Favourite Films with Jaime Winstone
20
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • RT Interview: Director Carlos Cuaron on Rudo and Cursi
0
  • RT Interview: Tony Scott on The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
10
  • Cannes 2009: RT Interview - Sally Hawkins on We Want Sex
2
  • RT Interview: Tilda Swinton on Julia
5
  • Hollywood Legend Debbie Reynolds Reflects On her Life in Showbiz
10
  • Exclusive: McG Talks Terminator Salvation
24
  • Georgia Groome - Fresh Talent on RT
5
  • RT Interview: Reading The Reader with Stephen Daldry
11
  • RT Interview: Oscar Nominee Melissa Leo
7
  • Carey Mulligan - Fresh Talent on RT
7
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • The Pursuit of Happyness at Rotten Tomatoes
  • The Pursuit of Happyness at IGN
  • The Pursuit of Happyness at AskMen

Fresh Links

Featured
Point-Counterpoint: Bruno
Point-Counterpoint: Bruno External Link

MSN's David Fear and Frank Paiva go head to head discussing the pros and cons of Bruno star Sacha Baron Cohen.

The New Cult Canon
The New Cult Canon External Link

The AV Club's Scott Tobias takes a second look at David Lynch's cult classic, Lost Highway.

Tom Cruise's 10 Best Roles
Tom Cruise's 10 Best Roles External Link

TIME takes us on a 25-year long journey into the superstar's career, giving us a look at his 10 best roles.

A Baywatch Comedy?
A Baywatch Comedy? External Link

BuzzSugar reports on Paramount's plans to rebirth the iconic TV show as a comedy film.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.