This weekend has been dedicated to recharging the battery after a tough month and a half of planning, preparation, and troubleshooting for my company’s annual convention.
Not feeling the need to chase girls at the bar, I was able to take in two movies that I have wanted to see for quite awhile.
Pursuit Of Happyness
My grade on scale of 1-10 : 7.4
Why so high: Pursuit of Happyness is a very compelling movie with top notch acting and direction. Will Smith and his real life son are consistently pushed their breaking points , but manage to persevere and survive their struggle with poverty, bad luck, and hard times when Smith’s character procures a full time job by way of dedication, gumption, and charm.
But my gripe is: I initially fully embraced the uplifting message and memorable performances in this movie. However upon reading more about the true story I found myself a little disappointed that the movie took so many liberties with the story. A full list of embellishments/adjustments can be found here.
I would think the story of a homeless man struggling for upward mobility in society along with his son would be compelling enough, but instead the movie makers felt the need to really twist an already great story. Some discrepancies that I believe to be pretty major are below.
- Most significantly, Gardner’s internship was a $1,000 monthly stipend, but the film claims “there was no salary.”
- Linda never existed. The mother of his child was “Jackie,” his mistress whom he left his wife for when she became pregnant. Also, she initially took Chris Jr. away for many months before bringing him to Chris to raise. They were never married but eventually had another child together.
- While the film shows Chris Jr. at the age of five, he was only two years old at the time of the events of this film.
- Because of the age of Chris Jr., the interactions in the film did not occur.
- The Rubik’s Cube incident never happened. Smith came up with that idea, because he has always been fascinated with Rubik’s cubes.
- Gardner’s medical equipment was never stolen from him.
- The IRS did not seize money from Gardner’s bank account.
So yeah, a pretty good movie that gave me a bitter taste upon learning that all the father and son interactions were fabricated, that Chris did make a salary, and that the IRS and rubik’s cube plot twists never occurred.
3:10 To Yuma
My Grade: 8.1
Why So High: A very fast paced Western with a lot of great action scenes. Its fun to make of Russell Crowe, but I have to say I think him and Matt Damon have best combination of acting abilities and project selection. The story moves fast compared to most westerns. I also liked the fact that they incorporated historical events like the Civil World, Indian wars, railroad expansion, and Chinese immigration into the back story as well. A great story from start to finish that is aided with some terrific imagery and cinematography.
But my gripe is…. I just didn’t think a lot of it was believable. Considering the ending, you would think the dialogue between Dan and Ben could have clued in some of the viewers of their mutual respect for each other. And plus I just do not believe that a character like Wade decides to turn on everything he has been his entire life. He not only succumbs to Dan but also tries to aide him and ultimately when he fails he decides to kill off his entire gang. In just one day he goes from their fearless leader to murdering them for successfully rescuing him? Not even Patty Hearst could explain this one.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CZcwE-ChXgg
Also too many characters just came off as plain dumb. Below are some examples.
- Ben Wade getting caught for not being inconspicuous.
- I feel my group of friends (and they are idiots) could do a better job escorting a prisoner. They consistently just allow Wade to get the jump on them with multiple feeble attempts to monitor him.
- Dans’ belief he can get Wade to the station despite the numbers against and the distance in his way.
- The gangs inability to free Wade until the very end.
- Butterfield and the marshall allowing Wade to show himself to his posse.
- So the train just comes and goes despite the shoot out?
So despite my criticism I really enjoyed the movie but would say it just didn’t come off as authentic with too many lapses unbelievable developments, decisions, and plot twists.
