A movie based on the true story of an African American called Chris Gardner.
Chris tries to make a living by selling a bone density scanner to doctors, most of whom do not buy the gadget. His wife, Linda, works at two jobs and is tired of not having money to pay the bills. Their son Christopher is the apple of Chris’s life.
Chris met his father for the first time when he was twenty-eight years old. He was determined that the same thing would not happen when he had children of his own. He is determined to look after his five-year-old son as lovingly as possible.
Linda sees Chris as a failure. She does not take seriously his latest dream of becoming a partner in a stock and shares firm, for which one needs to be really smart and work hard. But Chris knows he has the brains for mathematics. In fact, in one scene, we see him solving the Rubik Cube puzzle, which most people find extremely hard.
Fed up with the desperate financial situation, Linda walks out, and is never seen again. Chris and his son are thrown out of their apartment since he has not paid the rent.
He is, however, selected to be a trainee in the stockholders firm, with this catch: he will get no payment during training.
Chris takes the chance, and does his best to learn the ropes.
Money runs out. There are touching scenes of their going to a restaurant, and Chris orders food only for his little son, or the struggle to find a place to spend the night before the door closes. One of the most touching scenes is when they spend the night in the public toilet area of a railway station. Chris weeps, as Christopher falls asleep in his lap.
In another scene, Chris, finding himself in a shelter for the homeless run by a church, asks God, “Lord, please move the mountain.”
The movie is a powerful story of a father’s love for his little son. Director Gabriele Muccino says of this precious father-son relationship, “The movie plays like a love story. But in this case we don’t have a woman and a man meeting each other. Instead, we have a father and son walking together through life. Their relationship is very strong, very powerful. … Chris endures the unimaginable and still makes sure that not even the worst moments will have a bad effect on his son’s life.”
As for the title of the story, the misspelling is from what Chris sees on a wall in his neighbourhood. As for the pursuit of happiness, he wonders whether happiness can really be reached, or will always remain a pursuit beyond one’s grasp.
The famous African American actor Will Smith acts as Chris Gardner, and his son Jaden stars as Christopher. “You are a good papa,” Christopher tells his father, as Chris tucks him into bed at a shelter for the homeless. Even in the worst of times, he wants the best for his son, and is willing to make any sacrifice for that.
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