Dec 30, 2006 04:27 PM
2728 Views
(Updated Jun 29, 2010 05:19 PM)
America is a land of opportunity…but does that opportunity come knocking at your door at once? Does it come to you effortlessly? Not really…at least not to Chris Gardner (Will Smith), a young African-American male, married rather unhappily to Linda (Thandie Newton), father to a five year old boy Christopher (Jaden Smith). Chris works as a salesman, selling “bone scanners” to medical practitioners at a time when x-ray technology has just come into being, and x-ray machines are far cheaper and efficient than the bone scanners Chris is looking to sell!
The time is 1981 and Chris really has to strive hard to make ends meet. He is a bright, sociable, intelligent man who wants to better his prospects. Chris dreams of becoming a stockbroker…and to that end chases after the head honchos of a top investment firm, hoping to get an internship there, which he does. Meanwhile, his wife is exhausted by work and her marriage, leaves Chris and decides to go to New York. Chris now has to look after his son, work on his internship, support his family by continuing to sell scanners that nobody wants to buy, and face a tremendous amount of adversity doing all that.
How Chris manages to juggle all his responsibilities, how he handles crisis upon crisis thrown at him, and how he manages to remain the very best father any young boy could ever wish for, forms the rest of the story.
MY TAKE-
The African-American answer to Tom Hanks’ Mr. Nice Guy IS Will Smith! Hypothetically, it is hard to imagine cool, big Hollywood box-office draw, obviously privileged Will Smith as a guy struggling to make ends meet. But he carries the role off to perfection. There is an undeniable NICENESS to Will Smith’s onscreen persona that lends itself well to roles such as this. You feel terrible when he struggles with life and you pray desperately that he overcomes his troubles.
The movie is based on a true story. What I liked most about the movie is that the “African-American” race part of it is actually very underplayed. The hardship faced by Chris Gardner is that of any good, hardworking man trying to improve his prospects in the world. The fact that he is black is just incidental.
It also tackles certain philosophical aspects of life….like what is happiness and what does one have to do to be happy. The “Pursuit of happiness” term comes from the Declaration of Independence charted out in 1776 by Thomas Jefferson. Chris Gardner, the character in the movie, often ruefully muses that putting the terms “Pursuit” and “Happiness” together is extremely insightful. One has to run after happiness, strive for it, and EARN happiness. Chris Gardner’s story is a wonderful, heartwarming example of the “Pursuit of Happiness” aphorism.
