The movie that saved Will Smith from insanity: “A thing got broken in my mind”
When you’re as big a star as Will Smith, your career is bound to go through periods of ups and downs. He’s ridden the highest of highs, fronting billion-dollar franchises, winning major awards, and bathing in the adulation of millions of fans worldwide. On the other hand, he’s faced criticism of over-exposure and nepotism. Then there’s the whole ‘Oscar slap’ incident, which is an entire story in and of itself.
One of the Fresh Prince’s biggest flops is the 2013 sci-fi flick After Earth. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, the film starred Smith and his son Jaden as a pair of astronauts who crash-land on Earth centuries after it was abandoned by humanity. Though it did alright globally, the film flopped at the US box office, marking a significant decrease in both Smiths’ run of form. Crucially, it was torn to pieces by critics, who hated pretty much everything about it. Father and son both ‘won’ prizes at the Golden Raspberry Awards and it remains a dark spot on both men’s – and Shyamalan’s – careers.
“After the failure of After Earth, a thing got broken in my mind,” is what Smith told Front Row Features in 2015. His three previous movies had been Men in Black 3, Seven Pounds, and Hancock, which had all been successful by at least one metric. This one had been a crushing disappointment on almost every level, and it left its star reeling from the shockwaves. Luckily for Smith, his next project would help him bounce back.
Following a pair of cameos in Anchorman 2 and Winter’s Tale, Smith returned to leading man duties with Focus. His character, Nicky Spurgeon, is a conman who has made his fortune by playing people. He meets Jess Barrett (Margot Robbie), an ambitious but sloppy hustler who makes the mistake of trying to swindle him. Spotting her potential, he takes her under his wing, but ends up trapped in a web of his own making.
“For me, this film really marks a transition in my life and emotionally in my career,” Smith revealed. “I was like, ‘Oh, whoa, I’m still alive. I still am me even though the movie [After Earth] didn’t open number one. I still can get hired for another movie.’” This time, things were going to be different, as Smith explained. “It is a huge relief for me to not care whether Focus is number one or number 10 at the box office,” he said. “I’ve already gained everything that I could have possibly hoped for by meeting the people that I met and from the creation of what we’ve done together is just painting. I’m going to paint, and some paintings are going [to] be fantastic and others are not going [to] be so good. But I no longer measure the quality of myself on whether or not someone else thinks what I painted is beautiful.”
Unfortunately, most people didn’t think Focus was ‘beautiful’. It got middling reviews, with most critics in agreement that it was a serviceable, yet predictable romp. It did well at the box office, though, which helped restore faith in Smith as a draw.
The true measure of success is being able to get back up after being knocked down. Smith was able to brush off the misery of After Earth and get back on the horse, for which he should be commended. He could have made something a little more interesting, but that’s by-the-by.
