by Jennifer Claerr

Created on: April 02, 2008

The Pursuit of Happyness, starring Will Smith, is about the adventures of a young man named Christopher Gardner, who dreams of being a stockbroker. However, the road to his dreams is paved with hard knocks.

Based on a true story, The Pursuit of Happyness follows Chris Gardner through a series of near-fatal errors which break up his marriage and leave him and his young son homeless. Chris invests in a stock of medical scanners, only to discover later that the scanners are unsalable. Doctors consider them an unnecessary, overpriced luxury item. Having squandered his savings on the scanners, and with no sales to speak of, Chris finds that he can't pay the bills. His wife's meager income doesn't fill the deficit.

Smith's son Jaden is well cast as Chris's son. Both the elder and the younger Smith do an excellent job of acting out the horrible ordeal which father and sun must endure. The title comes from a misspelling of happiness which Chris finds written outside the substandard day care center where he must leave his son. At first he protests the misspelling. However, as the movie wears on you can see that it represents a way of putting the happy back into happiness.

Throughout the film Chris tries desperately to make up for his past errors. He agrees to paint his apartment in lieu of rent, only to be arrested for unpaid parking tickets. This unfortunate event happens right before his interview with the firm of Dean Witter for a internship as a stock broker. He boldly runs into the interview, barely on time, in his undershirt, covered in paint. He tells the truth about why he isn't dressed properly for the interview. His interviewers laugh. They've had their fair share of parking tickets, too. Chris is honest, and he's smart. Despite the problems with his attire, Chris gets the job.

However, things turn dark when Chris realizes that the internship is an unpaid position. He comes very close to turning the position down. However, he makes the right decision this time; he decides to take the internship and survive for the time being by selling his medical scanners at cost. From that moment, things begin to look a lot brighter.

The Pursuit of Happyness is a deeply wrenching film. It will have your guts in a knot. It's a very poignant portrayal of the depths of despair a human being can fall into if they make the wrong decisions. But it's also very uplifting, since it shows how those errors can be corrected. Throughout the film Will Smith plays Chris Gardner with a strength of character which makes him seem very appealing. It is clear that despite his mistakes, he is loving father, a brilliant thinker, and overall a good man.

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