The Pursuit of Happiness

First and foremost, I'd just like to say that this movie is sad-VERY sad. Also, if you have a nine-to-five job, this movie may not resonate with you, as you might find it challenging to relate.

This cinematic triumph is rich with underlying metaphors that delve into the concept of true freedom and its consequences. Alongside this, it addresses government corruption, power abuse, and explores our society's perceptions in relation to homosexuality and racism. The main protagonist is in a constant struggle against the forces of governement and society, and the system he faces only becomes more relentless in its resistance against him and his righteous endeavors.

However, ultimately, the laws of nature consistently triumph over human-made laws, giving way to anarchy. Unfortunately, anarchy can be a tough pill to swallow at first. Consequently, the movie implies that the main protagonist and his girlfriend will encounter increasingly challenging choices stemming from their own liberties or the absence thereof. The fluctuations in their freedom throughout the story are left wide open for interpretation - a key element contributing to the movie's excellence.

Randy Newman wrote the main title song for the movie, entitled "Let Me Go," which also serves as the end title song, setting the emotional tone for the tragic theme of this film.

I cannot recommend this movie enough; it's one of the greatest classic movies in my opinion. However, one of the defining dramatic features of this cinematic experience is its seemingly inconclusive nature. It leaves the viewer wanting more answers, and that is the only major complaint I can conjure.

This film should be dedicated to the memory of beloved film, stage and television actress, Ruth White. She did in 1969 and this was her final screen performance. She was only 55 years old at the time of her death. She is too young to play Grandmother Popper. White played older female roles in other works. Ruth White is great here as the prejudicial wealthy WASPy grandmother in New York City. Her grandson is played well by Michael Sarrazin who accidentally kills an elderly woman in a car accident. There are plenty of familiar faces like David Doyle; Robert Klein; a young Barbara Hershey; Arthur Hill; Rue McClanahan; Barnard Hughes; and Charles Durning. They filmed on location in New York City. The writing and acting are fine. For the most part, it isn't a bad film but it is no long forgotten.

Two silver spoons are supposedly attending Columbia (both of them are prime community college material). In the greatest challenge of her acting career, Barbara Hershey, who loves to take off her pants, plays a Columbia coed. Please. Things are not much better with the clueless Michael Sarrazin, who makes more bad decisions in two weeks than most people make in a lifetime.

Neither of these characters could even find the room for the SAT test, much less get into any college. Normally, I would say don't waste your time, but watching this film is like watching a 20 car pileup on the highway; you just can't ignore it, even though it is horrible to watch. Robert Klein is very good, though, as is EG Marshall. His son in the film would go on to make Boys in the Band, a great movie. Someone has to make this a midnight movie.

A lot of the films about disaffected youth in America produced at the end of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s were very clichéd and cheaply made by people who really didn't know anything about the subject. They were often clumsily and quickly made to cash in on the period's 'youthquake'.

This is not entirely the case here, though it does have its clumsy clichéd moments. By and large, this film was sensitively executed, about a Columbia student, from an old and wealthy New York family, who accidentally knocks down and kills a woman with his car on a very rainy night and where the tragedy leads him.

Michael Sarrazin is good to look at, as his girlfriend played by Barbara Hershey and he turns in an honest and tender performance. The plot is quite thin but the sensitivity and reasonable depth of many of the various performances, notably by his gentle father (Arthur Hill) and bigoted grandmother (Ruth White), give it substance. It's definitely worth watching.

It seems almost forgotten nowadays, which really is too bad. It's a thoughtful drama, adapted by Jon Boothe and George Sherman from the novel by Thomas Rogers. It tells a good story in a straightforward manner, refraining from indulging in any filler and giving impressive acting showcases to a fine bunch of actors.

Michael Sarrazin stars as William Popper, a college student who accidentally kills an old woman while driving in the rain one night. He's soon sent to prison, but what really screwed him more than the actual crime was the dim view that the system took of him, seeing a morally dubious young man with a serious disregard for law and order; not only was he driving with a license that he claims he didn't know expired, but he hadn't been paying his parking tickets.

While in prison, he becomes increasingly dismayed at the absurdity of the events in which he's caught up. Seeking to find some way to express himself, he seizes the opportunity for escape when it occurs, and implores his free spirited girlfriend Jane Kauffman (a very young and very gorgeous Barbara Hershey) to join him in his quest for freedom.

Boothe, Sherman, and director Robert Mulligan use this entertaining tale to make larger statements about the folly of human ignorance and the way that society at large can often impose its idea of how people should behave on the younger generation. Despite his good intentions, William continuously finds himself in trouble, whether he's admitting to being an atheist or lending some assistance to a homosexual fellow con (Gilbert Lewis). He's a young man frustrated by the injustices of the world and the whole aspect of chance. At least William has some people on his side, including his enthusiastic friend Melvin (comedian Robert Klein), his loving father John (Arthur Hill), and his formidable grandmother (Ruth White, who delivers a commanding performance). But he remains restless right to the end.

Sarrazin and Hershey are engaging in the leads, and the supporting cast features a number of familiar and reliable performers:E.G. Marshall as Williams' lawyer uncle, Sada Thompson as his aunt, David Doyle as an amiable con, Barnard Hughes as a judge, Ralph Waite as a detective, Rue McClanahan as an angry relative to the accident victim, and Charles Durning in a bit as a police guard. William Devane turns up late in the film, but makes a strong impression as a sleazy pilot whom William approaches for help.

This film is good enough, and likable enough, to deserve to be better known. At the very least, fans of the cast and director should be intrigued enough to want to give it a look.

Eight out of 10.