The Pursuit of Happyness might be one of those rare instances of a successful mainstream conservative story, although for the most part it appears to be shaped as a liberal critique of capitalism. Will Smith plays real-life Christopher Gardner of 1981, before he would go on to become the founder and CEO of a brokerage firm.

The movie, named after Gardner's same-named autobiography, tells of the time he struggled -- broke, homeless, and with only his son in tow -- as a salesman of a novelty medical gizmo while also interning at stock firm Dean Witter, where one of about 20 is selected to stay full-time at the end of each 6-month program. While chasing the American dream, Gardner is bounced all over the place due to lack of cash, and, when his sales merchandise gets occasionally stolen with his son looking on as they move about the city, the movie actually has shades of the Italian classic The Bicycle Thief. However, Happyness (incidentally also directed by an Italian, Gabriele Muccino) doesn't end like the old De Sica film, and as such it's instantly classifiable as an opposite spirit: an example of how hard work and perseverence can pay off in the land of opportunity.

Leaving it at that might feel a bit disingenuous, though -- the other ingredient to success that can't be ignored is ability (as Gardner's scenes with a Rubik's Cube demonstrate). The movie thus comes off as a polished illustration of positive conservative values, but clearly its major concern is to simply tell an amazing story of hardship that leads to success, and it works mainly because of a reliably good Will Smith performance as a tired, determined, and nearly desperate struggler.

Pursuit of Happyness is one of those one-man-show movies, practically a vanity project, but Smith continues to employ his charisma and natural ability to earn empathy well and shows why he is one of our few current movie stars with real staying power -- if he keeps this up, he could legitimately claim to be this decade's successor to Tom Hanks.

(Released by Columbia Pictures and rated "PG-13" for some language.)

Review also posted at www.windowtothemovies.com.