Aug 28, 2008 07:23 PM
2366 Views
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?
Haven't we all asked this question to ourselves at some point of our lives?Haven't we all almost lost heart at agonizingly falling short of success or happiness in our own lives?Well, ditto for Chris Gardner, a middle aged man who lives under the constant cloud of failure and problems in San Fransisco of the early 80s.This is a story of how there is always abright light at the end of a tunnel, howsoever long and dark the tunnel be, yet one can endure and survive this dark phase by sheer determination and grit.
Nothing seems to be going well for Chris Gardner(Will Smith is as usual fabulous) in his life.His financial condition is in tatters where he is not able to pay rent and taxes, Just because his gamble of putting all his savings into a massive subscription of Bone density scanners(medical equipment) has proven to be a disaster.He spends all the day trying to sell one of these scanners which his customers consider to be unnecessarily expensive and more often than not comes back home without a sale.His wife Linda gets fed up of the situation and decides to leave him.Yet he very adamantly keeps the custody of his 5 year old sonChristopher(Jaden Smith)from his wife who is actually much better off to take care of the kid.
But during all this Chris spots an opportunity to get himself and his son out of their miserable lives.He gets to meet a stock broker and is amazed by how Happy he is.In an instant he decides to take a plunge into that profession.Yet to be succesfull in that, he has to defy huge odds.He has to first suceed in an interview and then undergo an no-pay internship of 6 months at the end of which there is a very slim chance that he will actually be hired by the organisation.He is no position to go for such a high risk venture as things keep getting worse for him.In addition to being poor he becomes homeless and then broke.But then he takes up the challenge in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds just because he believes in himself and his abilities.In one scene he explains his son and really ends up telling himself.
Don't ever let somebody tell you. You can't do something. Not even me.
You got a dream. You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period.
The kind of daily struggle he has to face to make ends meet is really heart touching.He sometimes ends up in homeless shelters and one time even in a subway bathroom with his son to spend the night.He keeps loosing his only asset(the medical scanner) in strange circumstances and has to make herculean efforts to bring them back and then repair it and sell it.Somehow he and his son make through that period at the end of which he gets the job and finally success and the much cherished happiness.
Will Smith is just superb in the role of Chris.This is a departure from all the smart, succesfull, funny, kicka** kinda guy roles he generally does and is wonderful at.As the narrator and the main protagonist he evokes strong emotions from the viewer, emotions that vary from sympathy to admiration.I believe he deserved an Oscar for this.The other highlight of the movie is the adorable Jaden Smith(Will Smith's real son) who plays the five year old Christopher.He exhibits the right amount of maturity to keep his character genuine and believable.The chemistry between the two is so very palpable and wonderful.
In addition to great direction by Italian director Gabriele Muccino a special mention should be made for screenwriter Steven Conrad.There are many scenes where as a viewer your heart goes out to the father-son duo and you keep thinking "how much worse is it gonna get"?Along with being a nice and believable "Rags to Riches" story this is also a movie of some real unforgettable scenes and heart touching sequences.
