The Pursuit of Happyness

"It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?"

When it comes to the careers of professional entertainers in Hollywood, it is hard to argue that anyone has made more right moves in their career than Will Smith. Everything the man touches seems to turn to gold, from his beginnings as a grammy award winning hip hop artist, to his current status as the biggest movie star in Hollywood whose films have earned over $5.7 billion world wide. Smith has been criticized for only sticking to a certain blue print when it comes to his film choices which mainly include big summer blockbusters. Personally, I too would like to see Smith take more chances with his career. It was reported that Quentin Tarantino wrote the title character of his recent smash "Django Unchained" with Smith in mind, but Smith turned it down saying that it was too controversial. At the end of the day, if I was getting a guaranteed $20 million for every film I was in, I don't think I would feel to broken up about the fact that I am being insulted for making a Bad Boys 3 or a Hancock 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umDr0mPuyQc). 

In this writers' opinion, the Fresh Prince delivered his most layered, honest, and heartfelt performance of his career in "The Pursuit of Happyness". Smith plays Chris Gardner a struggling medical supply salesman whose life and family are falling apart as his finances continue to dwindle down to nothing. At one point, Chris' wife leaves him and he is evicted from his home and he has to bounce from one place to another as he tries to sell his supplies to make enough money find anew home and create some sort of life for his son Christopher (played by Smith's real life son, Jaden Smith).

Chris sees an ad in the newspaper for an internship at a local brokerage firm  and he recalls how good he was at math and decides to give this a chance ,because at this point, he has nothing else to lose. Chris gets accepted into the internship, but the issue is that he must work for 6 months, without pay, while competing against the other dozen candidates for the entry position at the end of the internship. Chris must find a way to sell his medical supplies (which to most hospitals in the area, have been deemed an unnecessary and expensive luxury) while working at the internship and continuing to provide for his son. 

Smith and his son have an obvious natural chemistry together on screen and we witness several moments throughout the film where it seemed that casting the two of them together was the only way to create a father-son relationship that the viewers could buy into. This is displayed in the most powerful scene in the movie where we witness Chris and his son spend the night in a subway bathroom. This is rock bottom for both of them, but almost inexplicably, Chris decides to turn their situation into a game just as an attempt to have his son feel like a kid for the first time in a long time.

The key to any film is for the audience to build a relationship with the characters so that we actually care about what happens to them throughout the story. Smith reels us in right from the beginning as the a father who will do anything for his son or die trying. Chris and his son take us on a roller coaster ride as we watch one failure after another pile up on them to the point where we just wait for them to give up. When we finally see Chris succeed in the end, it brings such relief to the audience and you think to yourself, "Thank God something positive happened!". I don't really think if I told the ending it would be a huge spoiler or anything since this was a true story and a quick google search on the topic could provide you the answers as to what happens to Chris and his son, but honestly, just watch the movie and see for yourself.

It should be a surprise to no one that if there are things you want in life, you have to go after them and get them yourself. There will be those who can help you along the way, but in the end, it is left up to you to make those key decisions in order to eventually obtain those things. Now we may not all end up on the path we originally started on and sometimes that can be a good thing. However, in order to actually achieve happiness (which I often find myself questioning what that actually is) it takes a good deal of soul searching, and in most cases, "a good kick in the ass" (Thanks Dad). We may not all end up "Getting Jiggy with It" Big Willie Style, but it's important to have confidence in what you are doing as well as in knowing that you will figure out what you want out of life and what will bring you happiness.

Be cool people.

"The Pursuit of Happyness" 4/5