The pursuit of happyness

General informations:

žRelease date: December 15, 2006

žDirector: Gabriele Muccino

žCast: Chris Gardner – Will Smith

           Christopher – Jaden Smith

           Linda – Thandie Newton

           Alan Frakesh – Dan Castellaneta

           Jay Twistle – Brian Howe

Will Smith starts in this moving tale inspired by a true story. In 1981 San Fransisco, Chris Gardner invest his entire life savings in portable bone-density scanners which he tries to demonstrate and sell to doctors. The investment proves to be a white elephant, which financially breaks the family and as a result, his wife Linda leaves him and moves to New York. Their son Christopher remains with his father. While downtown trying to sell one of his scanners, Chris meets Jay Twistle, a manager of Dean Witter and impresses him by solving a Rubik's Cube during a short cab ride. This new relationship with Twistle earns him the chance to become an intern stockbroker. Concluding his internship, Chris is called into a meeting with his managers. His work had paid off and he is offered the position. ''This part can be called happiness.'' Fighting back tears, he rushes to his son's daycare, hugging him. The epilogue reveals

that Chris went on to form his own multi-million dollar brokerage firm. With self- confidence and the love and trust of his son, Chris Gardner rises above his obstades to become a Wall Street legend..

Themes: Determination, Encouragement, Homelessness 

Determination: Chris' determination finally pays off when he lands an unpaid internship in a brutally competitive stockbroker- training program, where only one in twenty interns will make the cut. Despite arriving there unkempt and shabbily dressed due to being arrested the previous day for unpaid parking tickets and Chris didn't have enough time to make the appointment on time, Chris is offered the internship. Disadvantaged by this limited work hours, and knowing that maximizing his client contacts and profits is the only way to earn the one paid position that he and his 19 competitors and fighting for, Chris develops a number of ways to make phone sales calls more efficiently. He also reaches out to potential high value customers, defying protocol.

Encouragement:    

žDespite all the difficulties Chris Gardner faces, he always find the strength to encourage his son not to give up and believe in his dreams. After squashing his son's dream of becoming a pro basketball player, Chris realizes his error and then encourages his son to pursue any dream. 

 

Homelessness: Chris is further setback when his bank account is garnished by this IRS for unpaid income taxes and he and his young son are ericted. As a result, they are homeless, and are forced at one point to stay in a bathroom at a subway station. Motivation drives him to find the Glide Memorial United Methodist Church, which has a homeless shelter primarily for single mothers and their children. The church's owner does not let him stay due to the fact that it is for women and children, although she tells him about a local church that also provides shelter, but has very limited space. Due to demand for the limited rooms, Chris must frantically race from his internship work early each afternoon on order to land a place to line.

 

Worth seeing:  

žYou have to see this film because it affects many aspects of today’ s society with the most important homelessness.

žThis film gives us many messages and convinces us that whoever tries really succeeds!

žWill Smith gives the most touching performance of his career.

 

Bibliography: http://inspiredground.blogspot.com/2010/08/pursuit-of-happyness-2006-struggling.html