Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
Will Smith stars in the inspirational true story of Chris Gardner, a San Francisco salesman who's struggling to make ends meet. When his girlfriend Linda (Thandie Newton) walks out, Chris is left to raise their 5-year-old son Christopher (Jaden Smith) on his own. Chris' determination finally pays off when he lands an unpaid internship in a brutally competitive stockbroker-training program, where only one in twenty interns will make the cut. But without a salary, Chris and his son are evicted from their apartment and are forced to sleep on the street, in homeless shelters and even behind the locked doors of a metro station bathroom. With self- confidence and the love and trust of his son, Chris Gardner rises above his obstacles to become a Wall Street legend.

Amazon.com:
A heartwarming film that demonstrates how good, hard-working people can become homeless almost overnight, Pursuit of Happyness is a tour-de-force showcase for Will Smith, who convincingly portrays a down-and-out dad trying to better his family's life. Smith, who usually is cast in effortlessly boyish roles (Men in Black, Independence Day), is wonderful in the film--even in the scenes that shamelessly tug at viewers' heartstrings. Based on the true-life story of Chris Gardner, a San Francisco salesman forced at times to shelter his young son (played by Smith's adorable look-alike offspring Jaden Smith) in a men's room, there is little suspense to the film in terms of Chris' outcome. (His story and eventual success a successful and wealthy Chicago businessman was well-publicized on the newsmagazine show 20/20.) And let's face it, Hollywood's not too keen on making feel-good movies with unhappy endings. The beauty (and suspense, to a certain extent) of this film is in the way the story is told. Though he is constantly rushing around to get to appointments and pick up his child, things do not happen quickly for Chris. When he accepts an internship with a prestigious stock brokerage firm, there's a catch: The position is unpaid, suitable more for trust-fund children than single parents with no other source of income. In many scenes, the viewer panics along with Chris, wondering how he's going to feed his child. While Smith and his son, Jaden, share many tender moments together, Thandie Newton has the thankless role of playing Chris' shrill wife, who deserts her family early in the film. It's not a particularly challenging part for the talented actress, and her departure doesn't impact the storyline much at all. As for the movie's misspelled title, it's inspired from a scene in the film. (Seeing a mural drawn by the children at a daycare center, Chris points out to the proprietor that 'happiness' is spelled incorrectly. She notes that it doesn't matter how the word is written--just that the kids have it.) With Pursuit of Happyness, Smith has come out of his safety zone and, in turn, ends up playing his most heroic role to date. --Jae-Ha Kim






























Extras from The Pursuit of Happyness

Behind the scenes footage of The Pursuit of Happyness high bandwidth

Chris Gardner: 'On Being Studied By Will Smith' high bandwidth

Will Smith And Jaden Smith: 'On Will Always Being In Character' high bandwidth

Beyond The Pursuit of Happyness on Amazon.com

More Films Starring Will Smith

More Films About Fathers & Sons

The Book

Stills from The Pursuit of Happyness (click for larger image)















































































Availability: unknown

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Rating: - Feel-good tale: There is no substitute for hard work!
Based on a true story, "The Pursuit of Happyness" features Will Smith as Chris Gardner, a struggling San Francisco medical equipment salesman beset with financial problems. Tired of the struggle, his wife moves out and leaves him with their little boy. As they spiral down the financial shaft, they are reduced to sleeping in homeless shelters and in subway bathrooms.

Gardner lands an unpaid internship to become a Dean Witter stockbroker. Juggling the demands of fatherhood, keeping financial wolves at bay, selling his remaining inventory of bone density scanners and cracking the books to become a broker, Smith's character pursues his vision like one who has run out of alternatives.

Yes, it's a bit hokey and at times requires you to swallow the implausible, but this is an uplifting film that can inspire you to overcome obstacles and achieve your goals.

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Rating: - The Pursuit of Happyness - Blu-ray Info
* Version: U.S.A / Region A
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
MPEG-4 AVC BD-50 / High Profile 4.1
Running time: 1:57:27
Movie size: 32,64 GB
Disc size: 42,89 GB
Total bit rate: 37.05 Mbps
Average video bit rate: 28.93 Mbps

LPCM Audio English 4608 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 16-bit / 4608kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 640 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps
Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48kHz / 192kbps

Subtitles: English / English SDH / French / Spanish
Number of chapters: 16

#Audio commentary by director
#Making Pursuit: An Italian Take on the American Dream (17 - minutes)
#Father and Son: On Screen and Off (7 - minutes)
#The Man Behind the Movie: A Conversation with Chris Gardner (18 - minutes)
#Inside the Rubik's Cube (6 - minutes)
#I Can - Song ...

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Rating: - A father's love!!!
This movie was amazing!!! it was so truely sad what will smith's character had to go through to survive, all the pain he must have felt along the way, but he came out on top at the end ad it was great!!!!

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Rating: - horrible condition
* The seller shipped it in poor condition, or it got worse during its trip to my house. The case was crushed and the broken pieces inside scratched the disk and everything was sliding all over the place. I sent it back for a refund. ...

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Rating: - Certainly inspirational, but possibly a little too focused on money?
Okay, I may be a teacher for the public education system, but I admittedly have never had to live on the streets. That probably lends some bias to this story as I have never truly desired money as much as the characters here. I do not mock or disregard poverty at all, but it's kind of weird to market a movie based on the struggle for wealth to middle- and upper-class citizens when they are already doing reasonable all right. I guess it's an off sense of morality on my part, but in my case it's weird to see so much focus on material gain.

Even so, this is certainly an admirable story that I feel made a more-than-decent movie that brings a tear and a heart ache to me to watch the suffering of a father and son--both excellent people. I found myself cheering as this common man was able to go against all odds to achieve on Wall Street.

This is a role that is somewhat different from others Will Smith has done, but he and his son did an excellent job. Smith has that character sass and determination that I feel made him perfect for the part.

The true story I feel is even more inspirational. Don't get me wrong, this is a great movie and worthy of its praise. It's just almost patronizing in its way.