The Pursuit Of Happyness
"The Pursuit Of Happyness" portrays the love of a father towards his son under extreme poverty. The story revolves around Chris Gardner(Will Smith) and his son Christopher(Jaden Smith). Chris is a struggling freelance salesman who sells portable bone density scanners for a living and his wife Linda(Thandie Newton of MI-2 fame) works in double shifts at a hotel to support the family. They have a lovely son by the name Christopher who is left at a day care center in china town while they work during the day.
The family is in a state of extreme poverty and Chris finds it really difficult to meet ends trying to sell his scanners at the hospitals and returns home without selling them on most occasions. Looking for a new job, Chris wants to take up the stock broker internship program. This is when, Linda loses patience and leaves with their son. Chris who was brought up without a father, wants to take care of his son no matter what. So he takes Christopher along with him and Linda decides to go to New York. Chris takes up unpaid internship finally after a lot of struggle and sells his scanners during the week ends to make money. The rest of movie is all about Chris and Christopher and their struggle thro' homelessness, tax seizure, jail and what not.
The story is based in the 1980s and has been beautifully pictured. Will Smith narrates the whole story in the past tense with attractive section headers. This is why you will fail to see the directors touch in the movie. Jaden Smith who is Will Smith's son in real life has done a commendable job. Thandie Newton has a shrewish role to play and does a good job as a woman who is weak and mentally down. Will Smith was nominated for the Oscars for his acting as Chris Gardner and looks a lot different in the movie with a lot of long and grey hair.
The movie has quite a lot of touching scenes which would surely touch the stonyhearted. Chris spending time in the jail, appearing to the interview with paint stained clothes, missing an appointment due to traffic, broke because of tax seizure, sleeping in the railway station bathroom along with his son, reading the stockbrokers bible with moon light are some of the scenes which would sum up the kind of struggle a father undergoes in his pursuit towards happiness.
The movie is directed by an Italian, Gabriele Muccino. Thou overall this film sounds like a must see, it has its due of mistakes where the director misses out on minor details. One wonders how Chris works with out any sleep and how he has his clothes washed and appears neat to office in spite of being homeless. It is also believed that the story line was modified and is not the original.
The biggest plus of the movie is the on screen relationship Will Smith maintains with his real life son Jaden.
The Pursuit Of Happyness will sure ask its audience to pursue their happiness. Now its time for you to search for the lexicon to check the SPELLING of Happ_ness.
At the end of the day, you would surely feel good after having watched a lovely movie.
Some facts from wikipedia:
Differences between the film and actual events
* Linda never existed. She is an amalgamation of Gardner's two previous wives.
* Chris Jr. was only 2 years old at the time of the events of this film. In an interview on Oprah, he states that he has no recollection of this time period in his childhood. The only thing he does remember is his father always being there for him.
* The Rubik's cube incident never happened. Smith came up with that idea, because he has always been fascinated with Rubik's cubes.
* Chris Gardner never had a suitcase, but kept all his items within disposable plastic bags.
* Gardner's internship was paid a $1000 a month stipend.
* He spent 10 days in jail for not paying his parking tickets.
* He eventually started at Bear Stearns.
* He sometimes spent the night underneath his desk when the shelters were full.
* The movie character says he's from Louisiana, but the real Chris is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin
* As part of the Reagan 1981 tax bill, the federal government initiated very lucrative tax incentives to corporations who employed a large minority workforce. So between 1981 and 1983 many companies, including Dean Witter, exclusively hired minorities in order to qualify for these tax incentives. Because Chris was one of the very few blacks who applied, he was given special consideration.
Awards/Nominations
* Academy Awards
o Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Will Smith) - Nomination
* Black Reel Awards
o Best Film- Nomination
o Best Actor (Will Smith)- Nomination
o Best Breakthrough Performer (Jaden Smith)- Nomination
* Broadcast Film Critics Association
o Best Actor (Will Smith) - Nomination
o Best Younger Actor (Jaden Smith) - Nomination
* Golden Globe Awards
o Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama (Will Smith) - Nomination
o Best Original Song ("A Father's Way") - Nomination
* Image Awards
o Outstanding Motion Picture- Winner
o Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture (Will Smith)- Nomination
o Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (Jaden Smith)- Nomination
o Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Thandie Newton)-Nomination
* Screen Actors Guild Awards
o Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (Will Smith) - Nomination
The Pursuit Of Happyness 
Re: The Pursuit Of Happyness 
Nice review
.. sucks...
The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds;
