Who doesn’t love a “rag to riches” story? It epitomizes the American dream. Work hard, struggle, have determination and dedication, and you can achieve anything. Those are the details of Chris Gardner’s story, a very real story, and one that’s well told in Will Smith’s latest film “The Pursuit of Happyness.”

      Chris Gardner appeared on Oprah a couple of weeks ago, and his interview substantiated many of the film’s details. Down on his luck after a failed enterprise of selling bone density machines to doctors, Gardner’s marriage fails, he takes on the responsibility of raising his five- year old son alone, and he can’t pay the rent.

     Gardner refuses to give in, even when the going gets unbelievably difficult. It’s one thing to find yourself homeless; it’s another when you have a five-year old in tow.

     Then, against all odds, he lands a highly competitive internship at Dean-Witter.

     Miraculously, he completes it while he and his son live hand to mouth in shelters. The rest, as they say is history. Gardner’s now the owner of a multi-million dollar brokerage firm.

     Although Gardner’s real-life story is the stuff of clichés, and it’s been repeated in countless forms (and as early as 1867 in Horatio Alger’s Ragged Dick novels), “The Pursuit of Happyness” offers something clear, and clean, and fresh. You can thank Will Smith for that.

      Recently nominated for a Golden Globe for this performance, Smith plays Gardner with intensity beyond anything he’s done before. Maybe this big dose of honesty derives from the fact that young son Christopher Gardner is played by Smith’s real-life son Jaden. Moment after moment between the two captures magical connections.

&     When Christopher looks into Gardner’s eyes and says “You’re a good poppa,” he’s bringing the line home from some real place. An equally charmed moment occurs in a scene at the shelter when Gardner gets his son ready for bed. The easiness in their actions is a pleasure to watch.

     So the movie celebrates the love between a father and his son in the midst of chaos. But miracles are in the making. Gardner believes in himself, and although the possibility to despair lurks everywhere, he refuses to give over to it.

     Suspense drives hard against the backdrop of just trying to survive. Gardner copes with multiple evictions, the theft of his density machines, long lines at the shelter, and inadequate day care (where the word “happiness” is misspelled). He lives under the constant strain to maintain something akin to normalcy while he’s plugging away on his internship at the brokerage firm. Life is hard, but failure simply isn’t an option.

     Go see “The Pursuit of Happyness” to see a deeper side of Will Smith.

     Then be inspired by life’s possibilities.

Rated PG-13 for some language