When I first heard about this movie, I wasn’t able to find it because I was searching for The Pursuit of Happiness, when they spelled it funky in this movie and book. They explain why inside the movie. The story is loosely modeled after the life story of Chris Gardner, who appears to have a very rough beginning and through will and perseverance, they tries to overcome every little obstacle. I found the movie touching, but it found it a bit too harsh and a bit too lucky.
Official Site
IMDb: 7.4/10 (19,443 votes)
Yahoo! Movies: The Critics: B- / Yahoo! Users: B+
Rotten Tomatoes: Rating: 66% / Average Rating: 6.4/10
Apple Trailer
Amazon.com Blu-ray
Amazon.com DVD
Amazon.com Soundtrack
Amazon.com Book
MY RATING: 7/10
Spoilers: (Show)
Chris Garder thought he would become rich by becoming the only distributor of a super X-ray machine. He was given the entire San Francisco area. However, it turns out hospitals weren’t really interested in an X-ray machine that was somewhat better than traditional models but cost twice as much.
His family including his wife and boy are barely passing by. His wife eventually leaves him because she couldn’t take it anymore. They fight for the kid, but eventually since the wife was the one leaving, decides to let Chris keep him.
Chris, being unable to pay the bills, is kicked out of his apartment and moves into a motel. He manages to get an internship at one of the large stock brokerage firms. However there is no pay and only 1 intern out of 20 after 6 months will be hired into the company. This is actually not totally true as he did get $1000/month stipend (according to Wikipedia). He now has a choice in front of him. Try to pass through these 6 months by selling the remainder of his super X-ray machines which I’m guessing at a discount, or try to find a job that will actually support him and his son.
He takes the risk and accepts the internship.
The story goes on and how hard he tries and when the IRS comes and withdraws money from his account without his consent, he is left with nothing besides $20. He gets kicked out of the motel and even has to sleep over in a Bart station bathroom. The following days, he has to leave work early, pick up his son, and rush to the homeless shelter as there’s only an limited allotment, while all the time, studying to become a stock broker.
There was a joke the kid said during the movie and it was regarding a guy who was either drowning or his boat was sinking. A boat passes by and asks him to come aboard. He declines and says God will save him. Another boat comes along and asks him to come aboard and once again he declines and says God will save him. Finally, the man drowns and he goes to Heaven. He meets God and asks why didn’t you save me? God said, I sent 2 boats to save you.
I didn’t realize this somehow ties back into the story where if you recall, 2 of his x-ray machines were stolen and during the crucial moments, he was able to recover both of them and just manage to keep going a bit further. So instead of ignoring God’s help, he goes and accepts them.
The ending of course was a happy one, but nonetheless, the relationship developed between the father and son were exceptional.
