I pursuit in finding this movie. Was it worth it? Yes, it gave me a little bit of happiness watching it.

Rating: 8/10 (17 June 2013)

This movie is probably one of the best father and son relationship movies. I really enjoyed and learned a great deal about persistence in this film. It had me tearing up at times but in a good way. One scene in particular about never giving up, when his son is playing basketball, got to me. I like motivational films like this and this one is definitely hit the spot. The Pursuit of Happiness is based on the memoirs of Chris Gardner who struggle with homelessness with his son for nearly a year in pursuit of his dream job, a stockbroker. In the film directed by Gabriele Muccino, Will Smith starts as Chris Gardner with his son Jaden Smith as Chris Jr. In my opinion, I believe Will Smith was amazing. Glad he was nominated for the Oscar that year. If there weren't tough competitions that year, he would have won. By having the child actor and the main actor related to each other, it's portray a real life parenthood that rarely is shown in the movies. If you didn't know that they were related, and didn't know anything behind the screen. By just looking at the film, you would have think, wow, these actors truly seem connection as a father and son. This movie can be a bit depressing if any of its viewers have dealt with homelessness. There are some scenes that are really hard to watch. In my opinion, the bathroom at a subway station scene was the hardest to watch. Still, who knew Dinosaurs live at the train station? The movie took some liberties with Gardner's true life story. First off, the wife portray by Thandie Newton was just a mean spirit witch who abandon them just because she wanted her freedom back. In real life, she left because he actually cheated on her and the arrest in the film was actually for domestic violence. She did take care of the child for a while he was pursuing his dream job, but in the end, she did abandoned the child with Gardner. It's hard to tell what were the real reasons why she left them, but the film, the wife seemed on the verge of breakdown. Even if Will Smith's character was going through hell and more he kept his poise and kept it together. The mother seemed unstable and not at all trust-worthy with a child. She looked and acted like she was ready to snap. Was she portray a villain on film? Yes. Did she deserve it? Probably not, she probably had her reasons, but still there is no reason to abandoned her child. Certain details and events that actually took place over the span of several years were compressed into a relatively short time. I think if the movie struggle was portray, like it was in nearly a year, it would be just too depressing. Although eight-year-old Jaden is portraying a five year old Chris, during the time of 1981, Gardner's son was just a toddler at the time. Just think of that for a second, that's pretty hard for a homelessness man to deal with. While the movie love to say that he only had 30 dollars left in his bank account and no job when he struggle to find a place to live; in real life, he was earning a small salary and was able to afford rooming. Plus, he was gainfully employed as an early stage of being a stockbroker. Also in no way, did the Glide Memorial Church turn them away. I do like the special cameo by Chris Gardner toward the end that people need to check out. The music soundtrack by Andrea Guerra is amazing. The visuals of the film does make it look like 1981 San Francisco even if there are a few anachronisms. The homeless people in the film were truly sadly homeless people, so that's worth noting. The movie is telling the story of Chris's struggles with poverty and by having real people struggling in the film, it gave the movie more depth. While, Chris isn't the perfect father, he does things that might be wrong, like cheat and lie. Still, Chris isn't a hero, he was just an ordinary human being, and like every single ordinary human being in the world he did some things that probably weren't right and some things that he might regret. By having some flaws in the character was worth watching. What I learnt was that if one is desperate enough, one will do what one can to survive and protect their young. It's fairly primitive. Smith's character did not enjoy reneging on his rent but he had little choice. I didn't find his behavior too reprehensible. Some critics dislike the film with the capitalism ideas it has and the illusion of the American Dream. Was Chris Gardner pursuing happiness or pursuing money? It seem to me, it was money. Does money make happiness? No, always, but it does help. It's hard to find people not interested into making money. Plus, solving a Rubik's Cube in minutes, will make you land a gig as a stockbroker job? I do find that unlikely just as much as the scene with him showing up with no suit and landing the internship. Some people are thinking too much into the film, as they think of this movie as a movie against capitalism, for capitalism, pro-republican, pro-democratic, pro-Marxist, etc. etc. This movie is the struggle of one man trying to live a better life. Yes, times are getting harder, things are getting more expensive, everyday life for those who aren't rich just living from pay check to pay check, but this film gives them the optimism for themselves to pursuit such happiness for themselves. It doesn't mean, they have to be rich, as long as they are stable with who they are, and where they are at. That's what I believe is the overall theme of the film.