Pursuit of Happyness Case

"In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson discusses "the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." What did Thomas Jefferson intend by "the pursuit of happiness?" Is happiness something that one can achieve? Luckily, the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, answers these questions through a moving story of just how far one man is willing to go in order to provide for his family. In The Pursuit of Happyness, Will Smith plays a hero, a good man trying to make an honest living and keep his family together during hard times. The Pursuit of Happyness takes you on an intense emotional roller coaster. Will Smith and Jaden Smith star in this heartfelt picture inspired by the real-life experiences of Chris Gardner.

I had the pleasure of watching, The Pursuit of Happiness, a film directed by Gabriele Muccino, and written by Steve Conrad. The film came out in the year of 2006 and is shy of two hours long. The film is rated PG-13 due to some vulgar language and violence. The main character, Chris Gardner, is cast by Will Smith, starring in other hit movies such as, Bad Boys, Hancock, Men in Black, and I-Robot. In Smith's role as Chris Gardner, he takes on a whole new perspective. One much different than previous roles with his usual comedic persona, shining in this new challenging role Smith evolves in a believable and endearing everyday man. Will had the pleasure of acting alongside his son in his first big film, Jaden Smith. Jaden himself proves to be a natural actor. Portraying a child whose life and economic background are opposite from his own, he proves to be an astounding young actor. Having been gifted with the skills of his father, he seems to have a true understanding of the character's emotional state and expresses it with ease. Jaden stars as Christopher, who plays the son that Chris swears by and is essentially Gardner's motivation for success through the whole film.

The setting takes place in San Francisco during the year 1981. Chris is a struggling salesman with an ample supply of bone density scanners collected during an ill-conceived investment plan from the past. He endeavors to support his family but is without luck. He makes several attempts to make things better, but things always end up worse. His girlfriend and mother of his son, is fed up with having to work double shifts while he fails to sell his scanners, only to return by nightfall with nothing. His wife eventually loses hope and leaves both Chris and Christopher. As Chris and his son move from one slump to another, you begin to wonder is there truly light at the end of the tunnel for this man?

In one scene, Chris drops off Christopher at an inexpensive daycare and is infuriated by all the graffiti outside the building. He then takes notice to a misspelled word "happyness" and, this troubles him and fills his head with questions. Questions ranging from what is happiness? Will monetary success help? Is happiness something we can only chase, but never catch? Gardener is then driven to construct a better life for himself and his son.

As a glimmer of hope arrives Chris runs into a guy getting out of a red Ferrari. He asks him what he does for a living and the man