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{{short description|2006 film by Gabriele Muccino}}
{{for|the famous phrase from which the title derives|Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{for|the band|The Pursuit of Happiness}}
{{Infobox Film
{{Infobox film
| name = The Pursuit of Happyness
| name =
| caption = Theatrical poster for ''The Pursuit of Happyness''
| image = poster-pursuithappyness.jpg
| image = poster-pursuithappyness.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Gabriele Muccino]]
| director = [[Gabriele Muccino]]
| producer = [[Will Smith]]</br>[[Steve Tisch]]</br>[[Teddy Zee]]</br>[[Todd Black]]</br>[[Jason Blumenthal]]
| producer = {{ubl|[[Will Smith]]|[[Todd Black]]|[[Jason Blumenthal]]|[[James Lassiter]]|[[Steve Tisch]]|[[Devon Franklin]]}}
| writer = [[Steven Conrad]]
| screenplay = [[Steven Conrad]]
| based_on = {{based on|''The Pursuit of Happyness''|[[Chris Gardner]]<br />[[Quincy Troupe]]}}
| narrator =
| starring = [[Will Smith]]</br>[[Jaden Smith]]</br>[[Thandie Newton]]</br>[[Brian Howe (actor)|Brian Howe]]</br>[[James Karen]]<br>[[Dan Castellaneta]]</br>[[Kurt Fuller]]</br>[[Scott Klace]]</br>
| starring = {{ubl|Will Smith||[[Thandiwe Newton]]||[[Jaden Smith]]}}
| music = [[Andrea Guerra]]
| music = [[Andrea Guerra (composer)|Andrea Guerra]]
| cinematography = [[Phedon Papamichael]]
| cinematography = [[Phedon Papamichael]]
| editing = [[Hughes Winborne]]
| editing = [[Hughes Winborne]]
| studio = {{ubl|[[Columbia Pictures]]|[[Relativity Media]]|[[Overbrook Entertainment]]|[[Escape Artists]]}}
| distributor =
| released = [[December 15]], [[2006]]
| distributor = [[Sony Pictures Releasing]]
| released = {{Film date|2006|12|15}}
| runtime = 117 minutes
| runtime = 117 minutes
| country = [[United States|USA]]
| country = United States
| language = [[English Language|English]]
| language = English
| budget = $55 million<ref name="BOM">{{Cite web |title=The Pursuit of Happyness |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1349158401/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160901033111/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=pursuitofhappyness.htm |archive-date=September 1, 2016 |access-date=April 6, 2022 |website=[[Box Office Mojo]]}}</ref>
| budget =
| gross = $307.1 million<ref name="BOM" />
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| website = http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thepursuitofhappyness/index.html
| amg_id = 1:326489
| imdb_id = 0454921
}}
}}
'''''The Pursuit of {{notatypo|Happy|ness}}''''' is a 2006 American [[Biographical film|biographical]] [[Drama (film and television)|drama film]] directed by [[Gabriele Muccino]] and starring [[Will Smith]] as [[Chris Gardner]], a homeless salesman. Smith's son [[Jaden Smith]] co-stars, making his film debut as Gardner's son, Christopher Jr. The screenplay by [[Steven Conrad]] is based on the best-selling 2006 memoir of the same name written by Gardner with [[Quincy Troupe]]. It is based on Gardner's nearly one-year struggle being homeless.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pfeiffer |first=Antonia |title="The Pursuit of Happyness"&nbsp;– A Hollywood Interpretation Of How To Achieve The American Dream |year=2018 |pages=7}}</ref> The unusual spelling of the film's title comes from a mural that Gardner sees on the wall outside the daycare facility his son attended. The movie is set in San Francisco in 1981.
'''''The Pursuit of Happyness''''' is an [[Academy Award]]-nominated [[2006 in film|2006]] [[drama]] [[film]] produced by Overbrook Entertainment, Escape Artist, and Relativity Media, in association with and released by [[Columbia Pictures]] on [[December 15]], [[2006]]. While it is based on the true story of [[Christopher Gardner]], a family man struggling to make ends meet, the film takes some liberties with Gardner's actual story. Starring [[Will Smith]] as Chris Gardner and Smith's real-life son [[Jaden Smith|Jaden Christopher Syre Smith]] as Gardner's son Christopher, ''The Pursuit of Happyness'' follows Gardner's struggles to break into the [[stock brokerage]] business as an intern, despite a rocky financial situation. The film was directed by [[Gabriele Muccino]], an [[Italy|Italian]] director making his English-language directorial debut.


The film was released on December 15, 2006, by [[Columbia Pictures]], and received positive reviews, with Smith's performance and the emotional weight of the story garnering acclaim. Smith was nominated for an [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] and a [[Golden Globe]] for Best Actor.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Littleton |first=Cynthia |date=2016-01-21 |title=Will Smith Says He Won't Attend Oscars |work=Variety |url=https://variety.com/2016/film/news/will-smith-oscars-diversity-protest-nominations-1201684878/ |url-status=live |access-date=2018-08-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830174430/https://variety.com/2016/film/news/will-smith-oscars-diversity-protest-nominations-1201684878/ |archive-date=August 30, 2018}}</ref>
==Plot==


== Plot ==
{{spoiler}}
In 1981, [[San Francisco]] salesman [[Chris Gardner]] invests his entire life savings in portable bone-density scanners, which he demonstrates to doctors and pitches as a handy improvement over standard X-rays. The scanners play a vital role in Chris's life. While he can sell most of them, the time lag between the sales and his growing financial demands enrages his bitter and estranged wife, Linda, who works as a hotel maid. The economic instability increasingly erodes their marriage, despite caring for Christopher Jr., their soon-to-be 5-year-old son.
Set in [[San Francisco]] in [[1981]], the film centers around [[Chris Gardner]] (Will Smith), a clever yet unsuccessful salesman of expensive [[bone-density scanner]]s. Chris invested most of his and his girlfriend's money into the scanners, which he eventually finds extremely difficult to sell (and difficult to keep from being stolen by [[hippie]]s and [[Homeless|bums]]). Despite Christopher's valiant attempts to help keep the family afloat, he is faltering; the rent is far past due, and his car is towed after Chris defaults on over a dozen parking tickets. His wife Linda ([[Thandie Newton]]) is unhappy and buckling under the constant strain of financial pressure, as her paychecks are the family's primary source of income. The only thing keeping the couple together is their five-year-old son Christopher ([[Jaden Smith]]).


While Chris tries to sell one of the scanners, he meets Jay Twistle, a lead manager and partner for [[Dean Witter Reynolds]] and impresses him by solving a [[Rubik's Cube]] during a taxi ride. After Jay leaves, Chris skips out on paying the fare, causing the driver to angrily chase him into a [[Bay Area Rapid Transit|BART]] station; he is forced to leave. However, Chris's new relationship with Jay earns him an interview to become an intern stockbroker.
One day, Chris meets a well off man ([[Geoff Callan]]) who reveals himself to be a stock broker for the [[Dean Witter Reynolds|Dean Witter]] brokerage firm. Impressed, Gardner seeks an interview with Dean Witter as an intern. Although he has no college training (Chris entered the [[US Navy]] after high school), his high-level math skills allow him to solve a [[Rubik's Cube]] puzzle in an impressively short amount of time, impressing Jay Twistle ([[Brian Howe (actor)|Brian Howe]]), the person in charge of the intern hiring process, to the point that he arranges Chris an interview. Upon hearing that her husband is going "From salesman to intern - backwards", Linda is no longer able to cope with her unhappiness. She walks out on Chris, taking Christopher with her.


The day before the interview, Chris grudgingly agrees to paint his apartment for free to postpone eviction by his landlord for late rent. While painting, Chris is greeted by two policemen at his doorstep, who arrest him for failure to pay multiple parking tickets. Chris has to spend the night in jail, complicating his schedule for the interview the next day. Chris narrowly arrives at Dean Witter's office on time, albeit still in shabby, paint-spattered clothes. Despite his appearance, Chris still impresses the interviewers and lands a six-month unpaid internship. He is among 20 interns competing for a paid position as a stockbroker.
Unwilling to be separated from his son, Chris picks Christopher up from his daycare in [[Chinatown, San Francisco, California|Chinatown]] before Linda can. Chris complains about a sign outside the daycare center misspelling "happiness" as "happyness", hence the spelling of the film title. Linda is going to move to New York and wants to take Christopher with her. However, Chris insists that he wants to keep the boy, and Linda accepts. Just before his Dean Witter interview, however, Chris is hit with two setbacks: he is being evicted from his apartment in a week, and he is arrested for failure to pay his parking tickets. After being released the next morning, Chris runs from the courthouse to his interview at Dean Witter's offices, unkempt and dressed in painter's clothes. Nevertheless, he gets the internship, although he is chagrined to learn that it is unpaid.


A possible position at her sister's boyfriend's restaurant tempts Linda to leave for [[New York City|New York]]. With regret, she leaves Christopher in Chris's care. However, Chris’s financial problems worsen when his already diminished bank account is garnished by the [[IRS]] for unpaid income taxes, and his landlord finally evicts him and Christopher.
Periodically able to sell all of the half-dozen remaining bone density scanners for quick money, Chris and young Christopher move into a low-rent [[motel]], although Chris is still unable to pay his rent on time due to a notice about Chris' unpaid taxes and that the government took his last six hundred dollars from his bank account leaving only twenty-one dollars left. Undaunted, Chris pursues his Dean Witter internship as a way out of financial struggle: at the end of the six-month internship program, only one intern out of the twenty in the program will be chosen to become a full-time paid employee, and Chris is determined to be that one. Chris eventually finds one of his scanners in the hands of a bum who stole it. Chris tries to sell it to one last doctor to get some money but is upset to learn it is broken. The Gardners are evicted from the motel, and are forced to spend the night in a [[BART]] station public restroom.


With only $21.33 in his bank account, Chris and Christopher are left homeless and desperate; Chris is able to get food and beds at the local shelter, and eventually scrapes together cash for a motel room, but the locks are then changed when he can't pay on time; he is then forced to live out of the restrooms in local BART stations with his son. Later, Chris finds the scanner that he lost in the station earlier. He sells his blood to pay for repairs and then gets a local physician to purchase it, thereby freeing himself to focus solely on his stockbroker training.
The next morning, Chris and Christopher attempt to find themselves a shelter, eventually happening upon the [[Glide Memorial Church]] in San Francisco's [[Tenderloin, San Francisco, California|Tenderloin neighborhood]]. The shelter operates on a first-come-first-serve basis, so every evening after work, Chris is forced to race across town to pick Christopher up, take the bus across town, and run to catch a place in line with the other homeless people. Chris continues to fix the scanner sacrificing time and sleep. Christopher of course does not like the situation (and on one occasion they lose one of his few toys; the Captain America doll on the film poster) but he is understanding, and still loves his father.


Disadvantaged by his limited work hours and knowing that maximizing his client contacts and profits is the only way to earn the broker position, Chris develops several ways to make sales calls more efficiently, including reaching out to potential high-value customers in person, a violation of firm protocol. One sympathetic prospect, Walter Ribbon, a top-level pension fund manager, even takes Chris and Christopher to a [[San Francisco 49ers]] game, where Chris befriends some of Mr. Ribbon's friends, who are also potential clients. Regardless of his challenges, Chris never reveals his lowly circumstances to his colleagues, even going so far as to lend one of his supervisors, Mr. Frohm, the last five dollars in his wallet for cab fare. He also studies for and aces the [[Series 7 exam|stockbroker license exam]].
Chris places added energy into going out of his way to attract potential Dean Witter clients (including joining a potential customer at a football game; Chris and Christopher have a break by being invited in the customer's box). Chris finally fixes the scanner and sells it for two hundred dollars. In the end, Gardner's hard work pays off: he is awarded a full-time job with Dean Witter which causes him to choke up and hold back his tears. As he leaves the office after hearing the good news, he starts crying as he walks into a crowd of people. Chris runs to his son's daycare center and embraces him. The film ends with Chris and his son telling jokes to one another as they start walking down a street. This is when the actual [[Chris Gardner]] makes a cameo appearance. The film then explains that Chris went on to become a highly successful stock broker, eventually starting his own firm.


As Chris concludes his last day of internship, he is summoned to a meeting with the partners. Mr. Frohm notes that Chris is wearing a nice shirt, to which Chris explains he thought it appropriate to dress for the occasion on his last day. Mr. Frohm thanks him and says Chris should wear another one the following day, letting Chris know that he has won the coveted full-time position and reimburses Chris for the previous cab ride. Fighting back tears, he shakes hands with the partners, then rushes to Christopher's daycare to embrace him. They walk down a street and joke with each other (and are passed by the real Chris Gardner, in a business suit).
{{endspoiler}}


An epilogue reveals that Gardner went on to form his own multimillion-dollar brokerage firm in 1987, and Gardner sold a minority stake in his brokerage firm in a multi-million-dollar deal in 2006.
==Production notes and reception==
[[Thandie Newton]] and [[Dan Castellaneta]] also star in the film as Linda Gardner and Alan Frakesh respectively. Smith insisted that [[Italy|Italian]] [[Gabriele Muccino]] direct this movie because of Muccino's style in movies such as [[L'ultimo bacio]] and [[Ricordati di me]].


== Cast ==
The film uses real "[[homelessness|street people]]" and real Glide church members and attendees as extras in some of the scenes featuring the church.<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/10/MNGUKF58411.DTL S.F. homeless earn paychecks for work as film extras]</ref> The church choir and band, The Glide Ensemble and the John Turk Change Band, may also be in the film. The Glide Ensemble soloists and band are professional performers.


* [[Will Smith]] as [[Chris Gardner]]
''The Pursuit of Happyness'' garnered good reviews from critics with a 66% approval rating on [[Rotten Tomatoes]], although [[Michael Medved]] gave ''Pursuit of Happyness'' four stars (out of four) saying "..not even the most jaded movie goers will be able to resist this film's emotional pull with an ultimately inspiring message about the implacable power of love and determination." <ref>{{cite web|url=http://images.michaelmedved.com/images/pdf/pursuithappy.doc |title=Audio review of ''The Pursuit of Happyness''|author= Michael Medved|accessdate= 2006-12-18}}</ref> Jaden Smith in particular has been praised, due in part to "his natural, low-key quality" that is "both astounding and moving."<ref>''Oscar pursuit of Jaden Smith would be natural'' by Claudia Puig, [[USA Today]], [[December 22]], [[2006]] section E1</ref> The film debuted at number-one at the box-office, making $27 million during its opening weekend and beating out such heavily-hyped films as ''[[Eragon (film)|Eragon]]'' and ''[[Charlotte's Web (2006 film)|Charlotte's Web]]''. It was Will Smith's sixth number-one opening in a row. It has made $162,587,000 as of 3/29/07.
* [[Jaden Smith]] (credited as Jaden Christopher Syre Smith) as Christopher Gardner Jr.
* [[Thandiwe Newton]] (credited as Thandie Newton) as Linda Gardner
* [[Brian Howe (actor)|Brian Howe]] as Jay Twistle
* [[James Karen]] as Martin Frohm
* [[Dan Castellaneta]] as Alan Frakesh
* [[Kurt Fuller]] as Walter Ribbon
* [[Takayo Fischer]] as Mrs. Chu
* [[Mark Christopher Lawrence]] as Wayne
* [[Chris Gardner]] as Walking Man in Business Suit (uncredited)


== Production ==
Sloan Freer, writing in the [[Radio Times]] (UK) gave it (equivalent to "good" where 5 represents "outstanding"), by noting that although the acting belies "understated restraint", from Smith and his son in particular, actually watching the film as a detached onlooker is harrowingly distressing because the suffering of Smith's character is happening to "such a decent man". The review concludes that despite its faultless writing and execution, the film needed to be a little less agonizing to sit through, as experiencing the sheer harshness of Gardner's life detracts from the evocation of his evident strength of will.
[[File:Chrisgardner.jpg|thumb|The film is based on the story of [[Chris Gardner]]'s struggle with homelessness.]]


==Trivia==
=== Development ===
[[Chris Gardner]] realized his story had Hollywood potential after an overwhelming national response to an interview he did with ''[[20/20 (American TV program)|20/20]]'' in January 2003.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zwecker |first=Bill |date=July 17, 2003 |title=There's a Way—and Maybe a Will—for Gardner Story |page=36 |work=Chicago Sun-Times}}</ref> Gardner published his autobiography on May 23, 2006, and later became an associate producer for the film.
*[[Speedcubing]] champions [[Tyson Mao]] and [[Toby Mao]] were hired as consultants to teach Will Smith how to solve a [[Rubik's Cube]] in two minutes.
*In the series ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air]]'', Will is shown solving the Rubik's Cube during an interview for [[Princeton University]].
*The [[Rubik's Cube]] in the film incorrectly depicts the Rubik's Cube manufactured in 1981. One can tell this by the black-and-white, logo "Rubik's Cube" located on the white, vinyl center-sticker of the white face (vinyl is no longer used for the stickers).
*Will Smith actually grew the mustache he has in the film.
*At the end of the film, the real [[Chris Gardner]] walks by [[Will Smith]] and [[Jaden Smith|Jaden Christopher Syre Smith]], Will Smith doing a double-take over his shoulder at him.
*[[Dan Castellaneta]], who voices [[Homer Simpson]] on ''[[The Simpsons]]'', co-stars in the film as one of Gardner's superiors and requests a donut from Gardner.
*[[Tyler MacNiven]] makes an uncredited guest appearance as the male hippie who stole one of the [[Bone-density scanner|bone density scanners]].
*Throughout the film, Will Smith's character is often shown on the [[BART]] system, but even though the train network opened on [[September 11]], [[1972]], it was not yet fully built out in its present form in the year the movie was set, 1981 (although at that time, all of the main BART subway lines within the cities of San Francisco, [[Oakland, California|Oakland]] and [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]] were in daily revenue service).
*In 1981, most of the buildings shown in the San Francisco Skyline shots were not completed yet.
*In the film, Will Smith's character compares Dean Witter with Morgan Stanley, saying that the former is superior. In 1997, Morgan Stanley acquired Dean Witter and the two merged.
*Although in the film Chris is selling [[Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry|Bone-density scanners]] the equipment for this technology was not invented until 1987, while the film is set in 1981.
*Chris' childhood nickname was Ten-Gallon Head


In order to create dramatic impact, the film artistically altered Gardner's life story by compressing several years' worth of events into a shorter period of time. Gardner makes a tiny cameo at the end of the film, walking past the fictional version of himself.
==Differences between the film and actual events==
*The Book has extremely detailed memories of Gardner's childhood unlike movie.


=== Casting ===
*Linda never existed. She is an amalgamation of Gardner's two previous wives.
Chris Gardner initially thought Will Smith, an actor best known for his performances in blockbuster films, was miscast to play him. However, Gardner claimed his daughter Jacintha said, "If [Smith] can play [[Muhammad Ali]], he can play you!", referring to Smith's role in the biopic ''[[Ali (film)|Ali]]'' (2001).<ref>{{Cite news|date=December 14, 2006|title=Smith's Real Life Role Model Unimpressed With His Stardom|work=[[Contactmusic.com]]|url=http://www.contactmusic.net/will-smith/news/smiths-real-life-role-model-unimpressed-with-his-stardom_1016502|url-status=dead|access-date=May 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180514213903/http://www.contactmusic.net/will-smith/news/smiths-real-life-role-model-unimpressed-with-his-stardom_1016502|archive-date=May 14, 2018}}</ref>


=== Music ===
*Chris Jr. was only two years old at the time of the events of this film. In an interview on Oprah, he states that he has no recollection of this time period in his childhood. The only thing he does remember is his father always being there for him.
[[Varèse Sarabande]] released a soundtrack album with the score composed by [[Andrea Guerra (composer)|Andrea Guerra]] on January 9, 2007.


{{Track listing
*The [[Rubik's cube]] incident never happened. Smith came up with that idea, because he has always been fascinated with Rubik's cubes.
| total_length = 40:00
| title1 = Opening
| length1 = 3:09
| title2 = Being Stupid
| length2 = 1:39
| title3 = Running
| length3 = 1:30
| title4 = Trouble at Home
| length4 = 1:30
| title5 = Rubiks Cube Taxi
| length5 = 1:53
| title6 = Park Chase
| length6 = 2:29
| title7 = Linda Leaves
| length7 = 4:02
| title8 = Night at Police Station
| length8 = 1:36
| title9 = Possibly
| length9 = 1:45
| title10 = Where's My Shoe
| length10 = 4:20
| title11 = To the Game/Touchdown
| length11 = 1:37
| title12 = Locked Out
| length12 = 2:20
| title13 = Dinosaurs
| length13 = 2:40
| title14 = Homeless
| length14 = 1:55
| title15 = Happyness
| length15 = 3:50
| title16 = Welcome Chris
| length16 = 3:45
}}


Also in the film are brief portions of "[[Higher Ground (Stevie Wonder song)|Higher Ground]]" and "Jesus Children of America", both sung by [[Stevie Wonder]], and "Lord, Don't Move the Mountain" by [[Mahalia Jackson]] and [[Doris Akers]], sung by the [[Glide Memorial Church|Glide Ensemble]].
*Chris Gardner never had a suitcase, but kept all his items within disposable plastic bags.


== Release ==
*Gardner's internship was a $1000 monthly [[stipend]], but he says "there was no salary" in the movie.


=== Box office ===
*He spent ten days in jail for not paying his parking tickets.
The film debuted first at the North American box office, earning $27 million during its opening weekend and beating out heavily promoted films such as ''[[Eragon (film)|Eragon]]'' and ''[[Charlotte's Web (2006 film)|Charlotte's Web]]''. It was Smith's sixth consecutive #1 opening and one of his consecutive $100 million blockbusters.


The film grossed $163,566,459 domestically in the US and Canada. In the hope that Gardner's story would inspire the down-trodden citizens of [[Chattanooga, Tennessee]], to achieve financial independence and to take greater responsibility for the welfare of their families, the mayor of Chattanooga organized a viewing of the film for the city's homeless.<ref>{{Cite news |last=The Associated Press State & Local Wire |date=December 15, 2006 |title=News briefs from around Tennessee |pages=788 words |publisher=AP Newswire}}</ref>
*He eventually started at [[Bear Stearns]].


Gardner himself felt that it was imperative to share his story for the sake of its widespread social issues. "When I talk about alcoholism in the household, domestic violence, child abuse, illiteracy, and all of those issues—those are universal issues; those are not just confined to [[ZIP code]]s," he said.<ref name="CNN">{{Cite news |last=Gandossy |first=Taylor |date=January 16, 1222 |title=From sleeping on the streets to Wall Street |publisher=[[CNN]] |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2006/US/12/15/paycheckaway.gardner/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=July 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070101144158/http://edition.cnn.com/2006/US/12/15/paycheckaway.gardner/index.html |archive-date=January 1, 2007}}</ref>
*The actual events and his homelessness happened over the course of a few years rather than a short time as shown in this movie.


=== Home media ===
*He sometimes spent the night underneath his desk when the shelters were full.
The film was released on DVD on March 27, 2007, and as of November 2007, [[DVD region code#1|ADCCA&nbsp;– RPC Region 1]] DVD sales (U.S./Canada/Bermuda) accounted for an additional $89,923,088 in revenue, slightly less than half of what was earned in its first week of release.<ref>{{Cite web |title=''The Pursuit of Happyness''|url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Pursuit-of-Happyness-The |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611123226/http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2006/PRHAP.php |archive-date=June 11, 2011 |access-date=April 6, 2022 |publisher=The Numbers}}</ref> About 5,570,577 units have been sold, bringing in $90,582,602 in revenue.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Pursuit of Happyness&nbsp;– DVD Sales |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Pursuit-of-Happyness-The#tab=video-sales |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611134114/http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2006/PRHAP-DVD.php |archive-date=June 11, 2011 |access-date=February 13, 2011 |publisher=The Numbers}}</ref>


== Reception ==
*Gardner quit his job as salesman before entering the stock broker training program.


=== Critical response ===
*Gardner's medical equipment was never stolen from him.
''The Pursuit of Happyness'' received a generally positive response from critics, with Will Smith receiving widespread acclaim for his performance. Film review site [[Rotten Tomatoes]] calculated a 67% overall approval based on 177 reviews, with an average rating of 6.40/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Will Smith's heartfelt performance elevates ''The Pursuit of Happyness'' above mere melodrama."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Pursuit of Happyness Movie Reviews, Pictures |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pursuit_of_happyness/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211014075947/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pursuit_of_happyness |archive-date=October 14, 2021 |access-date=October 28, 2021 |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]}}</ref> [[Metacritic]] assigned the film a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Pursuit of Happyness |website=[[Metacritic]] |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-pursuit-of-happyness |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170714123356/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-pursuit-of-happyness |archive-date=July 14, 2017 |access-date=October 22, 2020}}</ref>


In the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'', [[Mick LaSalle]] observed, "The great surprise of the picture is that it's not corny ... The beauty of the film is its honesty. In its outlines, it's nothing like the usual success story depicted on-screen, in which, after a reasonable interval of disappointment, success arrives wrapped in a ribbon and a bow. Instead, this success story follows the pattern most common in life—it chronicles a series of soul-sickening failures and defeats, missed opportunities, sure things that didn't quite happen, all of which are accompanied by a concomitant accretion of barely perceptible victories that gradually amount to something. In other words, it all feels real."<ref>{{Cite web |first=Mick|last=LaSalle|date=December 15, 2006 |title=MOVIE REVIEWS / Down and out in San Francisco, but on a path paved with gold |url=https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/MOVIE-REVIEWS-Down-and-out-in-San-Francisco-2543020.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212202714/http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/MOVIE-REVIEWS-Down-and-out-in-San-Francisco-2543020.php |archive-date=February 12, 2015 |access-date=April 6, 2022 |work=San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref>
*In the movie Gardner states that he is from [[Louisiana]], but Gardner is actually from [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin]]. However, Gardner's book indicates that his father resided in Louisiana at that time.


[[Manohla Dargis]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' called the film "a [[fairy tale]] in [[Realism (arts)|realist]] [[Drag (clothing)|drag]] ... the kind of entertainment that goes down smoothly until it gets stuck in your [[Crop (anatomy)|craw]] ... It's the same old bootstraps story, an American dream artfully told, skillfully sold. To that calculated end, the filmmaking is seamless, unadorned, transparent, the better to serve Mr. Smith's warm expressiveness ... How you respond to this man's moving story may depend on whether you find Mr. Smith's and his son's performances so overwhelmingly winning that you buy the idea that poverty is a function of bad luck and bad choices, and success the result of heroic toil and dreams."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dargis |first=Manohla |date=December 15, 2006 |title=''New York Times'' review |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/movies/15happ.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100313192135/http://movies.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/movies/15happ.html |archive-date=March 13, 2010 |access-date=April 6, 2022 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>
==Awards/Nominations==
*[[Academy Awards]]
**Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Will Smith) - ''Nomination''
*[[Black Reel Awards]]
**Best Film- ''Nomination''
**Best Actor (Will Smith) - ''Nomination''
**Best Breakthrough Performer (Jaden Smith) - ''Nomination''
*[[Broadcast Film Critics Association]]
**Best Actor (Will Smith) - ''Nomination''
**Best Younger Actor (Jaden Smith) - ''Nomination''
* [[Golden Globe Awards]]
**[[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama|Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama]] (Will Smith) - ''Nomination''
**[[Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song|Best Original Song]] ("A Father's Way") - ''Nomination''
*[[Image Awards]]
**Outstanding Motion Picture- '''''Winner'''''
**Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture (Will Smith) - ''Nomination''
**Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (Jaden Smith) - ''Nomination''
**Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Thandie Newton) -''Nomination''
* [[Screen Actors Guild Awards]]
**Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (Will Smith) - ''Nomination''
* [[MTV Movie Awards 2007]]
**Best Performance (Will Smith) - ''Nomination''
**Best Breakthrough Performance (Jaden Smith) - ''Nomination''


[[Peter Travers]] of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' awarded the film three out of a possible four stars and commented, "Smith is on the march toward Oscar ... [His] role needs gravity, smarts, charm, humor and a soul that's not synthetic. Smith brings it. He's the real deal."<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Travers |first1=Peter |title=The Pursuit of Happyness |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-pursuit-of-happyness-114976/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=April 6, 2022 |date=December 15, 2006}}</ref>
== References ==
<references/>


In ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', Brian Lowry said the film "is more inspirational than creatively inspired—imbued with the kind of uplifting, afterschool-special qualities that can trigger a major toothache ... Smith's heartfelt performance is easy to admire. But the movie's painfully earnest tone should skew its appeal to the portion of the audience that, admittedly, has catapulted many cloying TV movies into hits ... In the final accounting, [it] winds up being a little like the determined salesman Mr. Gardner himself: easy to root for, certainly, but not that much fun to spend time with."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Lowry |first=Brian |date=December 7, 2006 |title=The Pursuit of Happyness |url=https://variety.com/2006/film/awards/the-pursuit-of-happyness-2-1200511628/ |url-status=live |magazine=Variety |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204164027/https://variety.com/2006/film/awards/the-pursuit-of-happyness-2-1200511628/|archive-date=February 4, 2022 |access-date=April 6, 2022}}</ref>
==External links==
*[http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thepursuitofhappyness Official site]
* {{imdb title|id=0454921|title=The Pursuit of Happyness}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|id=pursuit_of_happyness|title=The Pursuit of Happyness}}
* [http://www.premiere.com/moviereviews/3322/the-pursuit-of-happyness.html Pursuit of Happyness review at Premiere Magazine's site]
* [http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2006/PRHAP.php The Pursuit of Happyness] at [http://www.the-numbers.com/ The-Numbers]
* [http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/pursuitofhappyness The Pursuit of Happyness Reviews] at [[Metacritic]]
*[http://www.sidewalkstv.com/specialfeatures/pursuit-of-happiness/index.html ''The Pursuit of Happyness'' premiere in San Francisco] on ''[[Sidewalks Entertainment]]''
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/10/DDGVLF4AI81.DTL ''Chris Gardner has pursued happyness, from the Glide soup kit at [[San Francisco Chronicle]]
* [http://ignoremagazine.com/discourse/dvd/image27.htm Film Review from Ignore Magazine]
* [http://www.fulleffectmagazine.com/node/323 Film Review: Pursuit of Happyness] at [[Full Effect]]
*[http://www.filmperspective.com/?p=33 A Look at the Film by Film Perspective]


Kevin Crust of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' stated, "Dramatically it lacks the layering of a ''[[Kramer vs. Kramer]]'', which it superficially resembles ... Though the subject matter is serious, the film itself is rather slight, and it relies on the actor to give it any energy. Even in a more modest register, Smith is a very appealing leading man, and he makes Gardner's plight compelling ... ''The Pursuit of Happyness'' is an unexceptional film with exceptional performances ... There are worse ways to spend the holidays, and, at the least, it will likely make you appreciate your own circumstances."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Boucher |first=Geoff |date=January 26, 2011 |title=A marathon runner on life's obstacle course|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-dec-15-et-pursuit15-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205022954/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-dec-15-et-pursuit15-story.html |archive-date=February 5, 2022 |access-date=April 6, 2022 |work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>


In the ''[[St. Petersburg Times]]'', Steve Persall graded the film B− and added, "[It] is the obligatory feel-good drama of the holiday season and takes that responsibility a bit too seriously ... the film lays so many obstacles and solutions before its resilient hero that the volume of sentimentality and coincidence makes it feel suspect ... Neither Conrad's script nor Muccino's redundant direction shows [what] lifted the real-life Chris above better educated and more experienced candidates, but it comes through in the earnest performances of the two Smiths. Father Will seldom comes across this mature on screen; at the finale, he achieves a measure of Oscar-worthy emotion. Little Jaden is a chip off the old block, uncommonly at ease before the cameras. Their real-life bond is an inestimable asset to the on-screen characters' relationship, although Conrad never really tests it with any conflict."<ref>{{Cite web |title='Happyness' takes it easy |url=http://www.sptimes.com/2006/12/14/Weekend/_Happyness__takes_it_.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604132635/http://www.sptimes.com/2006/12/14/Weekend/_Happyness__takes_it_.shtml |archive-date=June 4, 2011 |access-date=April 6, 2022 |work=St Petersburg Times}}</ref>
[[Category:2006 films]]
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:Biographical films]]
[[Category:Drama films]]
[[Category:Films based on actual events]]
[[Category:Films shot in Super 35]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pursuit of Happyness, The}}


''[[National Review Online]]'' has named the film #7 in its list of 'The Best Conservative Movies'. [[Linda Chavez]] of the [[Center for Equal Opportunity]] wrote, "this film provides the perfect antidote to Wall Street and other Hollywood diatribes depicting the world of finance as filled with nothing but greed."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Miller |first=John |date=February 23, 2009 |title=The Best Conservative Movies |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2009/02/23/best-conservative-movies/ |magazine=[[National Review]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402124006/https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2009/02/23/best-conservative-movies/ |archive-date=April 2, 2022 |access-date=April 6, 2022}}</ref>
[[ar:السعي للسعادة]]

[[de:Das Streben nach Glück]]
=== Accolades ===
[[fr:À la recherche du bonheur]]
{| class="wikitable"
[[it:La ricerca della felicità]]
|-
[[he:המרדף לאושר]]
! Award
[[hu:A boldogság nyomában]]
! Category
[[nl:The Pursuit of Happyness]]
! Subject
[[ja:幸せのちから]]
! Result
[[pl:W pogoni za szczęściem]]
|-
[[pt:The Pursuit of Happyness]]
|[[Academy Award]]
[[fi:Pursuit of Happyness]]
|[[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
[[sv:Jakten på lycka]]
|rowspan=2|[[Will Smith]]
[[zh:當幸福來敲門]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[BET Awards|BET Award]]
|[[BET Award for Best Actor & Actress|Best Actor]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|rowspan=3|[[Black Reel Awards|Black Reel Award]]
|colspan=2|[[Black Reel Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Black Reel Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
|Will Smith
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Black Reel Award for Best Breakthrough Performance|Best Breakthrough Performance]]
|[[Jaden Smith]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|rowspan=2|[[Critics' Choice Movie Award|Broadcast Film Critics Association Award]]
|[[Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
|Will Smith
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Performer|Best Young Performer]]
|Jaden Smith
|{{nom}}
|-
|Capri Award
|colspan=2|Movie of the Year
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Chicago Film Critics Association]] Award
|[[Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
|Will Smith
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[David di Donatello]] Award
|colspan=2|[[David di Donatello for Best Foreign Film|Best Foreign Film]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|rowspan=2|[[Golden Globe Award]]s
|[[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor&nbsp;– Motion Picture Drama|Best Actor&nbsp;– Motion Picture Drama]]
|Will Smith
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song|Best Original Song]] ("A Father's Way")
|[[Seal (musician)|Seal]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|rowspan=2|[[MTV Movie Awards|MTV Movie Award]]
|[[MTV Movie Award for Best Performance|Best Male Performance]]
|Will Smith
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance|Best Breakthrough Performance]]
|Jaden Smith
|{{won}}
|-
|rowspan=4|[[NAACP Image Award]]
|colspan=2|[[NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture|Outstanding Motion Picture]]
|{{won}}
|-
|[[NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture|Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture]]
|Will Smith
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture|Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture]]
|Jaden Smith
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture|Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture]]
|[[Thandiwe Newton]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Nastro d'Argento]]
|[[Nastro d'Argento for Best Score|Best Score]]
|[[Andrea Guerra (composer)|Andrea Guerra]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|Phoenix Film Critics Society Award
|Best Young Actor
|Jaden Smith
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Screen Actors Guild Award]]
|[[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role|Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role]]
|Will Smith
|{{nom}}
|-
|rowspan=4|[[Teen Choice Awards|Teen Choice Award]]
|colspan=2|[[Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie&nbsp;– Drama|Choice Movie&nbsp;– Drama]]
|{{won}}
|-
|rowspan=2|Choice: Chemistry
|Will Smith
|{{won}}
|-
|rowspan=2|Jaden Smith
|{{won}}
|-
|Choice: Breakout Male
|{{won}}
|-
|}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Film}}
* [[List of American films of 2006]]
* "[[Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness]]"

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title|0454921}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|pursuit_of_happyness}}
* {{Metacritic film}}
{{Gabriele Muccino}}
{{Steven Conrad}}
{{Will Smith}}
{{San Francisco 49ers}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for ''The Pursuit of Happyness''
|list1 =
{{NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture}}
{{Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Drama}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pursuit Of Happiness}}
[[Category:2006 films]]
[[Category:2006 biographical drama films]]
[[Category:2000s business films]]
[[Category:African-American drama films]]
[[Category:American biographical drama films]]
[[Category:American business films]]
[[Category:Biographical films about businesspeople]]
[[Category:Columbia Pictures films]]
[[Category:Escape Artists films]]
[[Category:Films about father–son relationships]]
[[Category:Films about children]]
[[Category:Films about homelessness]]
[[Category:Films about poverty in the United States]]
[[Category:Films based on biographies]]
[[Category:Films based on works by American writers]]
[[Category:Films directed by Gabriele Muccino]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Steven Conrad]]
[[Category:Films produced by Will Smith]]
[[Category:Films set in 1981]]
[[Category:Films set in San Francisco]]
[[Category:Films set in the San Francisco Bay Area]]
[[Category:Films shot in San Francisco]]
[[Category:Overbrook Entertainment films]]
[[Category:Relativity Media films]]
[[Category:Stock trading films]]
[[Category:2000s English-language films]]
[[Category:2000s American films]]
[[Category:Films about salespeople]]
[[Category:English-language biographical drama films]]
[[Category:Teen Choice Award winning films]]

Latest revision as of 12:03, 22 December 2024

The Pursuit of Happyness
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGabriele Muccino
Screenplay bySteven Conrad
Based onThe Pursuit of Happyness
by Chris Gardner
Quincy Troupe
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyPhedon Papamichael
Edited byHughes Winborne
Music byAndrea Guerra
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release date
  • December 15, 2006 (2006-12-15)
Running time
117 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$55 million[1]
Box office$307.1 million[1]

The Pursuit of Happyness is a 2006 American biographical drama film directed by Gabriele Muccino and starring Will Smith as Chris Gardner, a homeless salesman. Smith's son Jaden Smith co-stars, making his film debut as Gardner's son, Christopher Jr. The screenplay by Steven Conrad is based on the best-selling 2006 memoir of the same name written by Gardner with Quincy Troupe. It is based on Gardner's nearly one-year struggle being homeless.[2] The unusual spelling of the film's title comes from a mural that Gardner sees on the wall outside the daycare facility his son attended. The movie is set in San Francisco in 1981.

The film was released on December 15, 2006, by Columbia Pictures, and received positive reviews, with Smith's performance and the emotional weight of the story garnering acclaim. Smith was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Actor.[3]

Plot

[edit]

In 1981, San Francisco salesman Chris Gardner invests his entire life savings in portable bone-density scanners, which he demonstrates to doctors and pitches as a handy improvement over standard X-rays. The scanners play a vital role in Chris's life. While he can sell most of them, the time lag between the sales and his growing financial demands enrages his bitter and estranged wife, Linda, who works as a hotel maid. The economic instability increasingly erodes their marriage, despite caring for Christopher Jr., their soon-to-be 5-year-old son.

While Chris tries to sell one of the scanners, he meets Jay Twistle, a lead manager and partner for Dean Witter Reynolds and impresses him by solving a Rubik's Cube during a taxi ride. After Jay leaves, Chris skips out on paying the fare, causing the driver to angrily chase him into a BART station; he is forced to leave. However, Chris's new relationship with Jay earns him an interview to become an intern stockbroker.

The day before the interview, Chris grudgingly agrees to paint his apartment for free to postpone eviction by his landlord for late rent. While painting, Chris is greeted by two policemen at his doorstep, who arrest him for failure to pay multiple parking tickets. Chris has to spend the night in jail, complicating his schedule for the interview the next day. Chris narrowly arrives at Dean Witter's office on time, albeit still in shabby, paint-spattered clothes. Despite his appearance, Chris still impresses the interviewers and lands a six-month unpaid internship. He is among 20 interns competing for a paid position as a stockbroker.

A possible position at her sister's boyfriend's restaurant tempts Linda to leave for New York. With regret, she leaves Christopher in Chris's care. However, Chris’s financial problems worsen when his already diminished bank account is garnished by the IRS for unpaid income taxes, and his landlord finally evicts him and Christopher.

With only $21.33 in his bank account, Chris and Christopher are left homeless and desperate; Chris is able to get food and beds at the local shelter, and eventually scrapes together cash for a motel room, but the locks are then changed when he can't pay on time; he is then forced to live out of the restrooms in local BART stations with his son. Later, Chris finds the scanner that he lost in the station earlier. He sells his blood to pay for repairs and then gets a local physician to purchase it, thereby freeing himself to focus solely on his stockbroker training.

Disadvantaged by his limited work hours and knowing that maximizing his client contacts and profits is the only way to earn the broker position, Chris develops several ways to make sales calls more efficiently, including reaching out to potential high-value customers in person, a violation of firm protocol. One sympathetic prospect, Walter Ribbon, a top-level pension fund manager, even takes Chris and Christopher to a San Francisco 49ers game, where Chris befriends some of Mr. Ribbon's friends, who are also potential clients. Regardless of his challenges, Chris never reveals his lowly circumstances to his colleagues, even going so far as to lend one of his supervisors, Mr. Frohm, the last five dollars in his wallet for cab fare. He also studies for and aces the stockbroker license exam.

As Chris concludes his last day of internship, he is summoned to a meeting with the partners. Mr. Frohm notes that Chris is wearing a nice shirt, to which Chris explains he thought it appropriate to dress for the occasion on his last day. Mr. Frohm thanks him and says Chris should wear another one the following day, letting Chris know that he has won the coveted full-time position and reimburses Chris for the previous cab ride. Fighting back tears, he shakes hands with the partners, then rushes to Christopher's daycare to embrace him. They walk down a street and joke with each other (and are passed by the real Chris Gardner, in a business suit).

An epilogue reveals that Gardner went on to form his own multimillion-dollar brokerage firm in 1987, and Gardner sold a minority stake in his brokerage firm in a multi-million-dollar deal in 2006.

Cast

[edit]

Production

[edit]
The film is based on the story of Chris Gardner's struggle with homelessness.

Development

[edit]

Chris Gardner realized his story had Hollywood potential after an overwhelming national response to an interview he did with 20/20 in January 2003.[4] Gardner published his autobiography on May 23, 2006, and later became an associate producer for the film.

In order to create dramatic impact, the film artistically altered Gardner's life story by compressing several years' worth of events into a shorter period of time. Gardner makes a tiny cameo at the end of the film, walking past the fictional version of himself.

Casting

[edit]

Chris Gardner initially thought Will Smith, an actor best known for his performances in blockbuster films, was miscast to play him. However, Gardner claimed his daughter Jacintha said, "If [Smith] can play Muhammad Ali, he can play you!", referring to Smith's role in the biopic Ali (2001).[5]

Music

[edit]

Varèse Sarabande released a soundtrack album with the score composed by Andrea Guerra on January 9, 2007.

No.TitleLength
1."Opening"3:09
2."Being Stupid"1:39
3."Running"1:30
4."Trouble at Home"1:30
5."Rubiks Cube Taxi"1:53
6."Park Chase"2:29
7."Linda Leaves"4:02
8."Night at Police Station"1:36
9."Possibly"1:45
10."Where's My Shoe"4:20
11."To the Game/Touchdown"1:37
12."Locked Out"2:20
13."Dinosaurs"2:40
14."Homeless"1:55
15."Happyness"3:50
16."Welcome Chris"3:45
Total length:40:00

Also in the film are brief portions of "Higher Ground" and "Jesus Children of America", both sung by Stevie Wonder, and "Lord, Don't Move the Mountain" by Mahalia Jackson and Doris Akers, sung by the Glide Ensemble.

Release

[edit]

Box office

[edit]

The film debuted first at the North American box office, earning $27 million during its opening weekend and beating out heavily promoted films such as Eragon and Charlotte's Web. It was Smith's sixth consecutive #1 opening and one of his consecutive $100 million blockbusters.

The film grossed $163,566,459 domestically in the US and Canada. In the hope that Gardner's story would inspire the down-trodden citizens of Chattanooga, Tennessee, to achieve financial independence and to take greater responsibility for the welfare of their families, the mayor of Chattanooga organized a viewing of the film for the city's homeless.[6]

Gardner himself felt that it was imperative to share his story for the sake of its widespread social issues. "When I talk about alcoholism in the household, domestic violence, child abuse, illiteracy, and all of those issues—those are universal issues; those are not just confined to ZIP codes," he said.[7]

Home media

[edit]

The film was released on DVD on March 27, 2007, and as of November 2007, ADCCA – RPC Region 1 DVD sales (U.S./Canada/Bermuda) accounted for an additional $89,923,088 in revenue, slightly less than half of what was earned in its first week of release.[8] About 5,570,577 units have been sold, bringing in $90,582,602 in revenue.[9]

Reception

[edit]

Critical response

[edit]

The Pursuit of Happyness received a generally positive response from critics, with Will Smith receiving widespread acclaim for his performance. Film review site Rotten Tomatoes calculated a 67% overall approval based on 177 reviews, with an average rating of 6.40/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Will Smith's heartfelt performance elevates The Pursuit of Happyness above mere melodrama."[10] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[11]

In the San Francisco Chronicle, Mick LaSalle observed, "The great surprise of the picture is that it's not corny ... The beauty of the film is its honesty. In its outlines, it's nothing like the usual success story depicted on-screen, in which, after a reasonable interval of disappointment, success arrives wrapped in a ribbon and a bow. Instead, this success story follows the pattern most common in life—it chronicles a series of soul-sickening failures and defeats, missed opportunities, sure things that didn't quite happen, all of which are accompanied by a concomitant accretion of barely perceptible victories that gradually amount to something. In other words, it all feels real."[12]

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called the film "a fairy tale in realist drag ... the kind of entertainment that goes down smoothly until it gets stuck in your craw ... It's the same old bootstraps story, an American dream artfully told, skillfully sold. To that calculated end, the filmmaking is seamless, unadorned, transparent, the better to serve Mr. Smith's warm expressiveness ... How you respond to this man's moving story may depend on whether you find Mr. Smith's and his son's performances so overwhelmingly winning that you buy the idea that poverty is a function of bad luck and bad choices, and success the result of heroic toil and dreams."[13]

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone awarded the film three out of a possible four stars and commented, "Smith is on the march toward Oscar ... [His] role needs gravity, smarts, charm, humor and a soul that's not synthetic. Smith brings it. He's the real deal."[14]

In Variety, Brian Lowry said the film "is more inspirational than creatively inspired—imbued with the kind of uplifting, afterschool-special qualities that can trigger a major toothache ... Smith's heartfelt performance is easy to admire. But the movie's painfully earnest tone should skew its appeal to the portion of the audience that, admittedly, has catapulted many cloying TV movies into hits ... In the final accounting, [it] winds up being a little like the determined salesman Mr. Gardner himself: easy to root for, certainly, but not that much fun to spend time with."[15]

Kevin Crust of the Los Angeles Times stated, "Dramatically it lacks the layering of a Kramer vs. Kramer, which it superficially resembles ... Though the subject matter is serious, the film itself is rather slight, and it relies on the actor to give it any energy. Even in a more modest register, Smith is a very appealing leading man, and he makes Gardner's plight compelling ... The Pursuit of Happyness is an unexceptional film with exceptional performances ... There are worse ways to spend the holidays, and, at the least, it will likely make you appreciate your own circumstances."[16]

In the St. Petersburg Times, Steve Persall graded the film B− and added, "[It] is the obligatory feel-good drama of the holiday season and takes that responsibility a bit too seriously ... the film lays so many obstacles and solutions before its resilient hero that the volume of sentimentality and coincidence makes it feel suspect ... Neither Conrad's script nor Muccino's redundant direction shows [what] lifted the real-life Chris above better educated and more experienced candidates, but it comes through in the earnest performances of the two Smiths. Father Will seldom comes across this mature on screen; at the finale, he achieves a measure of Oscar-worthy emotion. Little Jaden is a chip off the old block, uncommonly at ease before the cameras. Their real-life bond is an inestimable asset to the on-screen characters' relationship, although Conrad never really tests it with any conflict."[17]

National Review Online has named the film #7 in its list of 'The Best Conservative Movies'. Linda Chavez of the Center for Equal Opportunity wrote, "this film provides the perfect antidote to Wall Street and other Hollywood diatribes depicting the world of finance as filled with nothing but greed."[18]

Accolades

[edit]
Award Category Subject Result
Academy Award Best Actor Will Smith Nominated
BET Award Best Actor Nominated
Black Reel Award Best Film Nominated
Best Actor Will Smith Nominated
Best Breakthrough Performance Jaden Smith Nominated
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award Best Actor Will Smith Nominated
Best Young Performer Jaden Smith Nominated
Capri Award Movie of the Year Won
Chicago Film Critics Association Award Best Actor Will Smith Nominated
David di Donatello Award Best Foreign Film Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Will Smith Nominated
Best Original Song ("A Father's Way") Seal Nominated
MTV Movie Award Best Male Performance Will Smith Nominated
Best Breakthrough Performance Jaden Smith Won
NAACP Image Award Outstanding Motion Picture Won
Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture Will Smith Nominated
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Jaden Smith Nominated
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Thandiwe Newton Nominated
Nastro d'Argento Best Score Andrea Guerra Nominated
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award Best Young Actor Jaden Smith Won
Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Will Smith Nominated
Teen Choice Award Choice Movie – Drama Won
Choice: Chemistry Will Smith Won
Jaden Smith Won
Choice: Breakout Male Won

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "The Pursuit of Happyness". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on September 1, 2016. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  2. ^ Pfeiffer, Antonia (2018). "The Pursuit of Happyness" – A Hollywood Interpretation Of How To Achieve The American Dream. p. 7.
  3. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (January 21, 2016). "Will Smith Says He Won't Attend Oscars". Variety. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  4. ^ Zwecker, Bill (July 17, 2003). "There's a Way—and Maybe a Will—for Gardner Story". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 36.
  5. ^ "Smith's Real Life Role Model Unimpressed With His Stardom". Contactmusic.com. December 14, 2006. Archived from the original on May 14, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  6. ^ The Associated Press State & Local Wire (December 15, 2006). "News briefs from around Tennessee". AP Newswire. pp. 788 words.
  7. ^ Gandossy, Taylor (January 16, 1222). "From sleeping on the streets to Wall Street". CNN. Archived from the original on January 1, 2007. Retrieved July 14, 2010.
  8. ^ "The Pursuit of Happyness". The Numbers. Archived from the original on June 11, 2011. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
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