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I saw The Pursuit of Happyness last weekend. I went to see this movie based on the previews and the fact that it starred Will Smith and his son Jaden. I went thinking that it would have a tragic end, with the character loosing his family and in the end his life. This movie is based on a true life story.

Will Smith plays Chris Gardner, a young man struggling to sale bone density scanners and take care of his family. As time gets harder, money for rent is low, his wife is tried of waiting and struggling with him, she leaves him and takes their son Christopher. Chris ends up with his son and does his best to care for him. At one point they are homeless and rely on a homeless shelter for lodgings, and slept one night in a subway station restroom.

Chris, by chance runs into a stock broker driving a very nice car. A brief conversation with the broker convinces Chris that he could do the job also. He applies for an intern position with the firm. The firm only accepts twenty people for the internship. Chris continues to pursue the manager and then the owner of the firm until he is given a chance be an intern. He thinks about not doing it when he finds out it isn't a paid position. He finally decides to do it, with his goal of being the one out of twenty that is hired by the firm. When Chris finishes his internship, he lands that one job and the rest is history. He eventually goes on to start his own business and becomes a multi-millionaire. Bet his wife was sorry she didn't hang in there, for better or worse.

This is a movie worth watching. It is what I call a feel good movie. It leaves you thinking or feeling that perseverance, hard work, and belief in oneself does pay off in the long run. It makes you think there are still good people left in the world. Will gives a good performance and shows how much Chris Gardner cared for his son. You get the feeling that all he had done was for the betterment of his family. Where most would have just simply rolled over and given up, Chris Gardner never gave up and in the long run, it paid off very, very well for him.

Will Smith has come a long way form his hip-hop rapping days with D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the T.V. sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel Air, which is in syndicated reruns. Watching Will Smith act, I seldom think of his days as a rapper. I suspect that his son Jaden is being groomed for acting also.

Learn more about this author, Charles W Straw.
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