Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is the type of guy everyone knows and most have been at one point in their life or another - the working poor. He's smart and diligent but unable to catch a break and falling further and further behind in his responsibilities to everything except his young son (Jaden Smith) whom he'd promised to always be around for, no matter the circumstances.

"The Pursuit of Happyness," the sorta true story of the actual Chris Gardner, is the quintessential telling of the American Dream, a man living in the lowest circumstances who, through talent and sheer determination, pulls himself up by his bootstraps.

When a position for a competitive internship at the Dean Witter Reynolds brokerage firm opens, Chris sees his one chance at the brass ring and applies for it, despite the fact it doesn't pay anything and his bills are mounting.

The first American film from Italian director Gabriele Muccino ("L'ultimo bacio"), "Pursuit" is heavily-romanticized - Chris gets his interview by solving the HR Manager's (Brian Howe) Rubik's Cube - but manages for the most part to stay away from schmaltz and is only occasionally trite.

After his wife (Thandie Newton) leaves him, Chris finds himself trying to raise his son and keep his head above water long enough to finish his internship program, but the harder he tries the more obstacles life throws in his way. No matter how hard he works, the problems just keep mounting, and he eventually finds himself broke and homeless. But no matter how hard things get, Chris never looses sight of his goal or his own sense of self-worth.

Smith is actually quite good as Chris, which is good because everyone else is relegated more to a plot device than an actual character. Newton gets the worst of it as the nagging wife who doesn't