The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) is a biographical drama film that tells the true story of a man named Chris Gardner and his battle with homelessness and poverty. This touching and moving film was directed by Gabrielle Muccino. It stars Will Smith and Jaden Smith in the main roles. This movie is the ultimate example of a man struggling to provide for himself and his family.

Investing all of his savings into portable bone-density scanners, Chis Gardner (Will Smith) sells these machines for a living. Although he manages to sell most of them, the sales are too far apart for Chris to have any steady income. Thus, he soon finds himself behind on bills and rent, leading his wife Linda Gardner (Thandie Newton) to become increasingly exasperated with him. After some time when Chris is unable to sell any of his remaining scanners, his wife finally has enough and decides to leave him to go live with her sister in New York. Chris insists that he will keep their son Christopher Smith and Linda begrudgingly agrees. Some time after this, Will meets Jay Twistle (Brian Howe), a manager for a stock brokerage called Dean Witter. Chris applied for an internship at Dean Witter and had not heard back from them for a while. While sharing a short cab ride together, Chris impresses Jay by solving a Rubik’s Cube and is soon accepted for the internship. After a training period of six months, one intern would be accepted for a job at Dean Witter. This is the point where all of the struggles begin for Chris and his son Christopher. Chris finds that the IRS took out almost all of his money from his bank account due to unpaid income taxes. With less than thirty dollars to his name, things only get worse as Will is evicted from his apartment for failure to pay rent. Now homeless, Chris and his son Christopher struggle to find places to live and make ends meet.

Will Smith plays the role of Chris Gardner extremely well, evidenced by his Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for Best Actor. This is the first time Smith has ever done a role such as this, although his body of work is eclectic and includes many diverse roles. Smith portrays the emotions and thoughts of Chris Gardner to perfection and at times, the viewer is moved more by Smith’s performance than the actual story. Furthermore, Chris is a proud character, unwilling to let the people he worked with find out about his situation. At one point in the film, he lends another member of the brokerage $5 for a cab ride, even though he only had less than $30 left in his bank account. The lengths to which Chris goes to in order to keep his situation a secret is another area where Smith excels in acting out. Will Smith’s real son, Jaden Smith, plays the role Christopher Gardner. This was casting genius, as the real life father-son duo has a natural chemistry that adds to the effect and emotional impact of the film. Jaden Smith also does a tremendous job in his portrayal of young Christopher, seeming at uncommonly at ease in front of the camera. Chris struggles to provide for his son and when things seem bleak, Chris always remembers that he has to support Christopher, leading Christopher to become a source of motivation for Christopher. This love and care is further enhanced by the off-screen relationship of Will Smith and Jaden Smith.

The plot of the movie is complimented very nicely by the technical elements of the film. Camera angles in the film usually focus in on the actors’ faces, allowing the viewer to truly grasp the situation through the emotions portrayed by the expression on the faces of the actors. However, since the Gardner family is really the only characters who advance the story further, the camera does nothing to spotlight the other characters in the film. The music has a much greater impact on the film.  As Chris and his son grow poorer, the music gets more depressing. However, there are always uplifting scenes in these times and the music goes back to being optimistic and hopeful, no matter what situation the characters may be in. For example, at one point in the film, Chris and Christopher are living in a shelter provided by a local church. As everyone is sleeping, Chris is frantically working to fix his last bone-density scanner, which was damaged earlier in the film. He flips on the switch for the machine and the light comes on. This light is almost like the light at the end of the tunnel and the hopeful music serves to give the viewer the feeling that everything was going to be all right.

This film constantly explores the theme of working hard to achieve your goals. It is the ultimate tribute to the American dream, which the movie defines as overcoming all obstacles to achieve a goal, created by an opportunity that is offered to you. The film spends most of its time trying to convey this message and successfully accomplishes its goal. The number of obstacles that Chris must face in order to be able to finally provide for his family comfortably and his unwillingness to give up in the face of said circumstances shows the strength of the human spirit and the fact that anyone can accomplish their goals because of that strength.

Although this movie is not perfect, mostly due to weak direction, it is still an excellent production. The plot and strength of the acting makes up for the weakness in directing, allowing for the message of the film to shine through. The movie will move you emotionally and the struggles of Chris and his son serve to remind us not to take things for granted, as many of people do not enjoy the same benefits we do. The film will motivate you and make you believe that anything truly is possible as long as you set your mind to it. Chris Gardner says it best in the movie when he says to his son, “ Don’t ever let anybody tell you that you can’t do something, not even me. You got a dream, you have to got to protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you that you can’t do it. You want something, go get it. Period”.