This is one of those great dramas that pulls the viewer in and totally engulfs them. I thought Will Smith's performance was amazing and the direction was incredible. Some of the things Christopher Gardner had to go through to try and make a...
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This is one of those great dramas that pulls the viewer in and totally engulfs them. I thought Will Smith's performance was amazing and the direction was incredible. Some of the things Christopher Gardner had to go through to try and make a better life for himself and his son were pretty saddening. This is a great choice for movie night.

The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) M

Director: Gabriele Muccino
Duration: 113 mins

Set in San Francisco in the 1980’s, Gabriele Muccino’s Pursuit of Happyness is a powerful film based on Chris...
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The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) M

Director: Gabriele Muccino
Duration: 113 mins

Set in San Francisco in the 1980’s, Gabriele Muccino’s Pursuit of Happyness is a powerful film based on Chris Gardner’s inspirational book (of the same name).
This true story follows the journey of Chris Gardner, (Will Smith) an African American man who, at the moment has everything going against him, his wife (Thandie Newton) is at braking point, ready to leave him to raise their five-year old son Christopher, (Jaden Smith) without any real income as a result of a early investment gone wrong.

But one day, while walking to a close-by hospital in hope of selling one of his “investments,� Chris approaches a man that caught his eye exiting a very expensive car, Chris intriguingly asks him two friendly questions, what do you do? And how do you do it? The man says he’s a stockbroker and to be one you just have to be good with numbers and good with people

And so it begins, with the thoughts of a better job, life and happiness vivid on his mind, Chris seeks for an internship application and he finds it at a place called Dean Witter. While Chris sits to read his application on the bus, notes that the program took just 20 people every six months, there’s no pay, and only one got the job at the end, there was also three blank lines after high school to list for further education other than college. “I didn’t need that many lines�.

“The Pursuit of Happyness� title comes from the misspelled mural on the outside of the day care center that Christopher attends.
The reason I underlined the word pursuit is because if America is meant to be about the promise of bettering yourself and your life then in Chris’ case, why does it have to be so damn hard? This theory is supported by all the casual misfortunes and mishaps that constantly build up against him; homelessness nears, he has very little income, he faces debt and bankruptcy and it seems like if he is not the one that comes out of the internship with the job than it’s all over. when Chris sees all the stockbrokers he admits to himself, “they all looked so damn happy to me, why couldn’t I look like that?� As you watch the movie, you’re instantly attracted to Chris via his charisma; he never stops running because to do so would be to admit defeat to his son.
Chris reaches, misses and then reaches again.
But this determination he shows to never give up is not only shown in his fight to come out of the Dean Witter internship with a job, it is also shown through his fatherhood.

The strength of fatherhood in The Pursuit of Happyness has been shown in this movie by the many aspects that would affect any loving father, the fear of losing custody of his son to the fear of an unjust life for young Christopher, and then there’s the many “Uh-huhs� Chris says as his child natters on about his day. But what is even more realistic in Smiths performance is the little attention he actually gives to his son, because he is too busy worrying about Christopher to be with him and create a better life for the both of them.

Italian director Gabriele Muccino brings a different style of storytelling to this movie as apposed to the likes of an American directors approach to it, because where an American director would be likely to over-emphasize the racial division between Chris and his bosses at Dean Witter which is shown in American movies like Antwone Fisher, Remember the Titans and Men of Honour, but instead, Muccino makes the bosses out to be kind and willing to give Chris Gardner a shot at his pursuit of happiness. To me, The Pursuit of Happyness is a very inspirational film and I highly recommend it.

Like I said in my review of Remember The Titans, I don't really like drama movies that much, but this drama is the most entertaining drama that i've seen. Will Smith and his son are great in it together and the story is brought greatly onto the...
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Like I said in my review of Remember The Titans, I don't really like drama movies that much, but this drama is the most entertaining drama that i've seen. Will Smith and his son are great in it together and the story is brought greatly onto the screen. It's a very moving film.

This has got to be one of the greatest movies of all time, I'm usually one for comedies but this movie is an exception as it truely is a great film, if you want to watch a good movie based on real life then this is the one.