It's a beautiful and understated performance, one that hums with a richer, quieter music than Smith has mustered before.

A viral blast of the American Dream. It's "Rocky" with a briefcase.

Conrad's last film, the underrated "The Weather Man," was a parade of miseries, too, but the protagonist (Nicolas Cage) didn’t move very fast in the throes of his existential crisis, and the palette (it was Chicago in winter) was glacial. Here, those crazy San Francisco hills give the movie a lift, and Muccino frames it all airily, with a glancing touch.

For a movie conceived and executed in the mainstream Hollywood idiom, it has uncommon depth and honesty.

This is a slick studio production with a huge movie star and top professionals occupying every production role so that the polish of this well-made film makes even homelessness look neat and tidy.