A Pursuit of Happiness is a 2006 American biographical drama film directed by Gabriele Muccino and starring Will Smith as Chris Gardner, a homeless salesman.
The film is based on the true story of Gardner’s life, which was chronicled in the best-selling 2003 memoir of the same name written by Gardner with Quincy Troupe.
The screenplay by Steven Conrad is based on the book’s epilogue, “Ten Years Later”, in which Gardner looks back at his experience.
The Pursuit of Happyness was released on December 15, 2006 and grossed $307 million worldwide. It received generally positive reviews from critics and was nominated for several awards, including four Golden Globe Awards (winning two), four Academy Awards (winning one), and a Screen Actors Guild Award (Smith’s only win out of his four nominations).
The film begins in 1981 with Gardner working as a salesman for bone-density scanners. Despite his intelligence and diligent work, he is homeless and lives in shelters with his young son Christopher Jr. (“CJ”) (Jaden Smith). A few months later, Gardner finds himself the sole caregiver to CJ after his girlfriend Linda (Thandie Newton) abandons them.
Gardner comes up with a plan to sell medical devices door-to-door; however, he is quickly rejected by several potential employers, including Dean Witter Reynolds and Bear Stearns. A chance encounter with Jay Twistle (Brian Howe), the senior vice president of Drexel Burnham Lambert, buys Gardner some time by landing him an interview with the company. Despite his lack of experience, Gardner impresses Twistle with his gregarious personality and salesmanship, and is given a job as a stockbroker trainee in one of the firm’s San Francisco branches.
Gardner’s life takes another turn when he and CJ are evicted from their apartment for failing to pay the rent. They move into a homeless shelter where Gardner is now allowed only one hour of sleep per night and CJ is constantly harassed by other children in the shelter.
A turning point comes when Gardner finds himself at rock bottom, sleeping on a bench in a subway station bathroom and contemplating suicide. He is awakened by a police officer, who tells him to move along but not before noticing Gardner’s bone density scanner. Inspiration strikes, and Gardner realizes that he can sell his scanners to doctors’ offices.
With this newfound hope, Gardner manages to get back on his feet and eventually turns his life around. He eventually becomes one of the most successful stockbrokers at Drexel Burnham Lambert, making millions of dollars. In the end, Gardner is shown giving a speech to a group of students at the University of Pennsylvania about his story and how he managed to achieve his American dream despite all odds.
A Pursuit of Happiness is an inspiring film that will leave you feeling motivated and hopeful. Smith gives an outstanding performance, and the film is definitely worth watching.
The true story of Chris Gardner is the inspiration for Pursuit of Happiness. In this movie, Will Smith played Christopher Gardner. For me, this tale is very emotional and has a lot of lessons to teach us. The Bone Density Scanner is a device that Chris Gardner invested his family money in. He believes the gadget will be some sophisticated equipment that every medical practice would use and profit from selling it
However, it turns out that the device is not as great as he thought and he could not even sell one. Gardner’s wife had left him and took their son with her because she could not handle the stress anymore. Gardner was struggling to make enough money to support himself and his son. He had to do anything to make money even if it means being a homeless man on the street. Gardner did not give up on his dream and he eventually made it big time. This just goes to show that no matter how hard life gets, you should never give up on your dreams.
I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who wants an emotional roller coaster ride. It is a very inspiring story and Will Smith did an amazing job portraying Christopher Gardner.
Despite the fact that they were almost identical to current technology but at a higher price, those gadgets did not appear to attract as much attention as he had anticipated. His wife leaves him, his home is repossessed, and his bank account and assets are frozen because of this. They’ve been forced to live on the streets together with their kid in order to make ends meet. Gardner is desperate for work since he cannot pay the bills.
She eventually finds a job as a janitor at one of the buildings her husband was selling his devices to. One night, after she had put their son to bed, she came across an article about a stockbroker who had made millions. This inspired her to pursue a career in stock brokerage. Gardner is able to get an interview with the same man who wrote the article, and he eventually gets hired. With determination and focus, he quickly learns the ropes of the business and starts making money. A Pursuit of Happiness is ultimately a story of hope, dreams, and overcoming adversity. It is sure to inspire anyone who watches it.
The plot of the film is about a father, whose son has been imprisoned for drug charges. Despite the fact that Sam is incarcerated and his relationship with his father hits rock bottom, he still tries to communicate with him by writing letters on toilet paper in hopes of obtaining an audience.
But when Avi Gardener’s character goes to write one such letter on the bathroom wall, it disappears without trace! This part of the story was really sad yet Avi Gardener’s character did not give up and genuinely tried to connect with his kid. Before he can get paid, Avit Gardener’s character must go through six months of training with 20 other candidates.
But he has only one month to do it. A Pursuit of Happiness is based on a true story about a man who believe in the American dream and his son. The movie A Pursuit of Happiness directed by Gabriele Muccino, Will Smith played Gardner and his son Christopher was Jaden Smith. In A pursuit of happiness, Gardner had lost his job as a salesman because the company downsized and he could not find another job to support his family.
A Pursuit of Happiness also shows us that anyone has an opportunity to improve their lives if they work hard enough for it regardless where they came from or what cards they were dealt with in life. This movie definitely pulls at your heartstrings but it is worth watching. I highly recommend it. A Pursuit of Happiness is an inspirational movie that will make you appreciate what you have in life.
