The goal-oriented sales representative fights unconquerable chances to make himself emerge from his competitors with expectations of getting the position.
#WHAT THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS MOVIE IS ABOUT FULL#
Despite the fact that the entry-level position is unpaid, one of the 20 interns will be selected for a full time job at the firm. Things begin looking good for Gardner as he applies for an internship with a stock brokerage firm. In addition, his quest for a better life portrays an incredible bond between the father and son that no incident can demolish. Soon, Gardner and his son are homeless and are compelled to move starting with one place then onto the next staying in city shelters on great evenings and in public washrooms on the bad.Īs his desperation starts building up, Gardner sticks constantly to the expectation that his diligent work will in the end pay off. Gardner's life goes from terrible to more awful as he and his child are expelled from their home and should survive in the city of San Francisco. As the family's monetary issues mount, his wife deserts him and their child due to pressure. However, his livelihood, hawking costly bone-density scanners that most doctors do not need, has abandoned him and those he adores floating on the very edge of a disaster. Will Smith depicts Christopher Gardner, a sales representative attempting to make a decent living for his wife and child. While Gardner was fortunate enough to escape poverty, millions of Americans are yet homeless.The Pursuit of Happyness, is a rags to riches story about family, love and seeking the American Dream. But the verity of Chris Gardner’s story does not exclude the stark reality of homelessness in America. The story is based on the real life of Chris Gardner, who struggled through poverty and went on to become a successful businessman – he founded and managed his own brokerage firm in the 1990s. The focus on the theme of consummation of the American Dream actually distorts the bitter reality of American society. It would have served the film well had the focus been more on crisp screenplay and editing. It can be claimed that director Gabrielle Muccino had gone a little overboard in creating sympathy for his lead characters. His wife’s estrangement from him due to his financial failures adds to the melodrama. In Chris Gardner we have all apt qualities of the disadvantaged hero – black, impoverished, married and professionally uncertain. The already encumbered hero will be subject to further distress, before he emerges triumphant as a result of industry or ingenuity. Almost from the moment the homeless hero is introduced one has a sense of predictability of what awaits him. The much treaded rags- to-riches theme is tried yet again in the Pursuit of Happyness. If the purpose of the film is to celebrate the glamour of the American Dream, then it fails substantially in meeting this objective.Ī disappointing feature of the film is its predictable plotline. One also needs to question the kind of culture in which the odds are so stacked that only one in a thousand makes it big in life. Luck plays a major role in deciding who succeeds. The defeated cannot said to have all been less industrious than our hero. The final shot of the film is not merely the triumph of its protagonist, but equally the defeat of multitudes of his brethren.
The main criticism is toward its core message that among the thousands of honest aspirants for the American Dream only a few lucky ones make through. The essay will also analyze the major themes in the film. In other words, if the purpose of cinema is not merely to entertain but also to educate, the Pursuit of Happyness fails on the latter count. This essay would argue that despite the commercial success of the film, it fails as a social instrument. It treads the much worn path of the rags-to-riches narrative, albeit with some variations in plot, characterization and context.
The Pursuit of Happyness was a commercially successful film whose main appeal is its ‘feel-good’ ending.