The Pursuit of Happyness

I'm not usually a fan of movies that don't have proper titles, but in this case I make an exception. The Pursuit of Happyness is an excellent film that shows its audience how important money really is in America. Seriously, from watching this movie I learned that I should never be without money. Yeah, family and love is all nice and happy, but The Pursuit of Happyness taught me money is the only way to survive out in the world. With that being said, watching this movie makes me feel lucky and guilty at the same time. But this guy, Chris Gardner the main character, probably has more money then he knows what to do with so I think I can rest easy.

In this film, we find single father Chris Gardner (Will Smith) trying to piece his life back together and get job all the while trying to raise his young son Christopher (Jaden Smith). Chris is broke for most of the film and we find him and his son running from shelter to shelter while Chris manages a lucrative internship at a brokerage firm.

Real life father and son Will and Jaden Smith give this film the on screen chemistry needed for a movie of this magnitude. The majority of the film is their interaction with one another so a concrete relationship is crucial. Both Will and Jaden bring, what I am assuming to be, a healthy relationship outside of work into this movie. Every hug is filled with intensity and every shot of holding hands is powerful. Will gives a performance of a lifetime. His character speaks out to not just fathers, but any person who has stood up and taken ownership of something. Jaden is just cute as hell. He's probably also the luckiest kid in Hollywood. If my Dad was the Fresh Prince, I'd strut my stuff up and down Rodeo drive.

The Pursuit of Happyness has a few scenes that stick out in my mind. First and foremost is bathroom scene in the subway station. Chris and his son have been locked out of their motel room and are forced to seek shelter in a dirty subway bathroom. Chris camouflages the disgrace of this act by telling his son they are going back in time and he must imagine the bathroom to be a cave. For the next thirty seconds, we find Chris, with his son asleep on his lap, holding back tears as people begin knocking on the bathroom door to get in. Your heart just gets ripped out because you feel for how low this man has gone. The second most important scene in this film is when Chris finally fixes his bone density scanner. After weeks of fiddling around with it, the light turns on an illuminates the shelter. Probably the most symbolic scene in the film, there is a light at the end of the dark, homeless, dirty tunnel. The scene speaks for itself, quite frankly. Finally, there is Chris's job offer. He has been working for weeks trying to land this job and it is finally given to him. Will Smith does this facial expression when he tries to hold back tears but his lips curl up. It's powerful stuff, man. And it is by far the most feel good scene in the movie. The man has seen everything terrible and he is finally being rewarded for his heroic actions.

I liked this movie. It really makes you feel as if you can achieve anything when you are poor and homeless. It's an inspirational film to say the least. What if every homeless person in America saw this film? There you go America, I just solved the homeless problem. I'm assuming that those of you who read this blog have money; you haven't spent it all on Brazzers passwords or Ding Dongs. Be happy with what you have people. Be happy that you didn't have to sleep in bathrooms or wrestle doped up homeless men for a spot in the shelter. However, be kind of down in the dumps because you are not Will Smith's son. Sorry this wasn't a review of Kid Cudi's song.