Manohla dargis called the movie the pursuit of happyness "a fairy tale in realist drag . . . the kind of entertainment that goes down smoothly until it gets stuck in your craw. . . . it's the same old bootstraps story, an american dream artfully told, skillfully sold. how you respond to this man's moving story may depend on whether you find mr. smith's and his son's performances so overwhelmingly winning that you buy the idea that poverty is a function of bad luck and bad choices, and success the result of heroic toil and dreams." what idea is being expressed here?
The idea expressed by the critic is that The Pursuit of Happiness is a repetitive, unlikely story of 'the American dream', and ultimately an unrealistic portrayal of true life. The critique is mostly negative, but praises the acting performance of Will Smith and his son, ultimately saying you can enjoy the movie because of the acting if you can ignore how unrealistic the perception of poverty and homelessness is shown to be.
