Thomas Jefferson states “the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence. People wonder on what this quote means and what the meaning is behind it. The movie, The Pursuit of Happyness shows the answer to these questions. It also demonstrates examples of Chris Gardner’s life and shows how everyone has the ability to accomplish their own way of happiness. Happiness is something you have inside you, it is an inner quality.
In the movie, Chris Gardner is played by Will Smith, who has lost everything due to a financial situation. He ends up living in a homeless shelter with his kid. Chris was so jobless to the point where his wife left him. After all of this, it gives Chris motivation. Motivation to get out of his horrible situation. Seeing his kid gave him motivation, he had to care for his kid, feed his kid and give his kid everything he possibly can. Chris seeing his kid reminded him to succeed everyday and do whatever it is to get financially stable.
Chris ends up finding a place to work but does not get paid because it is an unpaid internship. Chris struggles so much but still does everything to make sure him and his kid have a bed to sleep on every night. Living a busy life, Chris find some free time throughout the day and decides to play basketball with his son. He tells his son that do not dream about becoming a NBA player because these type of dreams will not come true and tells him do not play much basketball. All of sudden, Chris has a change in his mind. He tells his kid “Hey. Don’t ever let somebody tell you, you can’t do something. Not even me. All right? You got a dream? You gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you you can’t do it. You want something? Go get it! Period!”
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Moving forward, one of Chris’ managers, from his unpaid internship, wanted to speak to him on his last day. One of his managers notices that Chris is wearing a new shirt and Chris said he wanted to dress nice because it was his last day. Then the manager tells Chris that he should wear a new shirt tomorrow, as in he got a full-time paid position at this job he was at. He fought back his tears and goes to the daycare and picks up his sons and celebrates. The movie ends up revealing that Chris Gardner eventually becomes a multimillion dollar broker.
In the New York Times article, Manohila Dargis states how “It’s the early 1980s, and while Ronald Reagan is delivering the bad economic news on television, Chris is about to prove you don’t need an army to fight the war on poverty, just big smiles and smarts, and really sturdy shoes”. Chris did not have anyone on his side but his five year old son. His wife left him and he was left all alone. Chris had motivation and it was his son. Everything Chris did was for his son and for him to live a life that Chris could not live. There were so many obstacles that Chris had to face but nothing stopped him. He kept going till he made everything right. Chris never showed his son his downfalls, he always had a smile on his face and never let it affect his son.
The overall rating I would give this movie is an 10/10. The reason why I give this movie such a high rating is because it is such an inspirational and emotional story. It shows how many struggles a man went through to become and millionaire. In my opinion, this movie gives hope to those who are struggling. Will Smith did a good job playing the role as a father who is doing everything to protect him and his son from becoming homeless while working as an unpaid intern. This movie shows the struggles parents go through just for their kids to live an amazing life. It makes me realize the things my parents did for me and makes me so thankful.
