Watching the trailer, this looked to be a painfully predictable little heart-string puller. A man, down on luck – even homeless, for God’s sake – enrolls in a trainee program to be a stockbroker, working to pull himself up by his bootstraps. Will he make it?

Adding the requisite pathos, he’s a single father. So his unswerving dedication to his son makes him even more of a sterling character as he proves that, through sheer hard work, someone without a college degree can become a stockbroker at Dean Witter.

Oh goodness, cue the triumphantly swelling strings. No need to get my usual box of Raisinettes – there’ll be enough saccharine up on screen to satisfy even the most earnest sweet tooth.

Despite all that, this is a surprisingly good movie. Its goodness comes almost exclusively from Will Smith, who proves that, through sheer hard work (and enormous talent), a truly superior actor can rescue even a threadbare script.

Smith, who’s in every scene, is letter perfect. Never maudlin, though the script begs him to be. He turns this Hollywood fantasy into something real, even gritty. He takes the movie’s basic message – that if you’re willing to work hard enough, you will succeed – out of the realm of treacle and turns it into a satisfying affirmation.

As a major added plus, the film highlights the plight of the homeless, so it brings a much needed social conscience to the multiplex.