The Pursuit of Happyness

Leading Actor: Will Smith

Nominated for an Academy Award for his role in this motion picture.

Jaden Smith

Son of Will Smith, has won numerous awards for a newcomer to acting.

You got a dream... You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period.

Thandie Newton

Award winning British actress, known most for her work in “Crash”

Genres of the Movie

•1. Biography

•2. Drama

•3. “Feel-good” tear-jerker

Main themes of this story

• 1. The chains of poverty and neglect that are holding the lower social classes down.• “breaking down the walls”• 2. Happiness cannot be achieved and all that you have is the pursuit of it. • 3. Reinforce the values of family unity and father-son relationships.

Brief synopsis of the movie• This film tells the story of one year in the life of Chris

Gardner.• It is 1981 in San Francisco, California, and the main

character, Chris Gardner, is a husband and father trying to make ends meet with a low paying job of selling “Bone Density Scanners”.

• His wife, Linda, works double shifts at the laundromat. • His son, Christopher, attends Day care, and is a smart young

man, always following his father’s advice. • Chris has a difficult time selling the scanners, and eventually

loses his car, his apartment, and his wife who moves to New York City in hopes of finding a better life for herself.

• By chance, Chris meets a man driving a red Ferrari, and after finding out that the man is a stock broker, decides he wants to pursue this career as well.

Brief synopsis of the movie• Chris enlists as an unpaid intern to learn about

the job. He has a 1 in 20 chance of landing the job that will realize his dream of making a lot of money, and being happy.

• By taking this position, Chris eventually becomes homeless with his son. Sometimes they find a warm place to sleep, other times they do not.

• This pushes Chris to try harder and with even more determination.

• From being destitute and homeless, Chris eventually lands a job at a prestigious stock brokerage, and in the coming years, becomes a multi-millionaire.

Positive reviews• “… this is a well made, sharply written and ultimately

uplifting drama, but it really piles on the misery before you get there...” - Matthew Turner (View London)

• “... the on-screen chemistry between father and son is a winning formula – lifting the film from just another tear-jerker into a heartfelt and compelling slice of cinema…”

• - Johnny Vaughn (Sun Online)

• “... few films so convincingly portray the titanic struggle that some people face day in and day out just to survive...”

• - Brandon Fibbs

Negative reviews • “ The Pursuit of Happyness can’t imagine anything

worse than being poor. Except maybe being surrounded by poor people.”

• - Geoff Pevere (Toronto Star)

• “…relentlessly grim but in a phony, Hollywood kind of way...”

• - Jamie Graham (TotalFilm)

• “It’s not about happiness. It’s about money. The film boasts about how many millioins Gardner makes. Is he happy? You bet...”

• - Stuart McGurk (the londonpaper)

My review • It was exciting to see Will Smith in a different role other than

the usual "action hero". Having seen this flick, I would suggest two things: (1) Will sticks to action hero and comedy (2)He keeps his children out of acting since they cannot act(.) example (After Earth).