Synopsis

Chris Gardner's a family man struggling to make ends meet by selling portable bone density machines to hospitals. Despite his valiant attempts to help keep the family afloat, Linda the mother of his five-year-old son Christopher is buckling under the constant strain of financial pressure and having to work double shifts. No longer able to cope, she reluctantly decides to leave after being offered a job in New York. Chris, now a single father, continues doggedly to pursue a better-paying job using every sales skill he knows. He lands an internship at the prestigious Dean Witter stock brokerage firm, and although there is no salary, he accepts, hopeful he will end the program with a job and a promising future. Without a financial cushion, Chris and his son are soon evicted from their apartment and forced to sleep in shelters, bus stations, bathrooms, or wherever they can find refuge for the night.

What The Critics Say

"It's a solid vehicle for Smith, tailored to his personality and strengths as a star, and fueled by his utter conviction." William Arnold SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER "What ultimately keeps Happyness on track is Will Smith's perfectly pitched performance." Ethan Alter FILM JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL "I left the movie thinking that a whole lot of folks in Gardner's situation can't do what he did. They can't break the cycle of poverty. They never get off the street. But this is the story of one man who made it, and Smith does him justice." Robert Denerstein DENVER ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS "A true story told in a deeply heartwarming style: there's never any doubt where this film is going. It's a terrific tale, and the film is watchable." Rich Cline SHADOWS ON THE WALL "Heartwarming at times, heartbreaking at others, you could do far worse this season than this touching tale." Edward Douglas COMINGSOON.NET

"An admirably unsentimental biopic with an excellent central performance, but it doesn’t impact as strongly as it could." Chris Hewitt EMPIRE MAGAZINE UK "Thankfully, humor leavens the dark journey, and little Jaden and his jokes go a long way to warm our hearts." Claudia Puig USA TODAY "Smith's bottomless capacity for charm saves the movie from itself." Thomas Peyser STYLE WEEKLY "Will Smith has his best screen role ever and he runs with it. He's flat-out great." Pete Hammond MAXIM "The role needs gravity, smarts, charm, humor and a soul that's not synthetic. Smith brings it. He's the real deal." Peter Travers ROLLING STONE "The movie aims to be inspirational, startling and poignant. It doesn't always succeed, although it's always watchable because of the sincerity in the Smiths' performances." James Sanford KALAMAZOO GAZETTE

The Inside Story The story of how "The Pursuit Of Happyness" came to the big screen started in 2003, when executive producer Mark Clayman, a writer and actor who had been transitioning into producing, saw a story about Chris Gardner on the television programme, "20/20". What makes this interesting is that Mark is not a big watcher of the programme. "My wife and I are not avid "20/20" watchers, but we caught this segment," he said, "which discussed how Chris was faced with amazing obstacles, homelessness being at the forefront. There was a scene where he revisited a bathroom at a BART station with his son and he shared how he used to bathe him in the sink of the restroom. Since we had a son who was a year old at that time, we both were moved to tears by it. I saw it not as a rags-to-riches story but as a moving father and son tale." His immediate reaction? He turned to his wife and said, "I’ve got to get the rights to this story." Clayman rang Gardners phone and after a number of attempts got through. Gardner remembers that Clayman got his attention because "he was honest, direct, sincere, to the point." Clayman set up a meeting with production company Escape Artists, whose three partners, Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch, had, in the past, individually been responsible for such films as "Antwone Fisher", "American History X", and the Oscar®-winning "Forrest Gump". "The way I saw it," says Blumenthal, "Chris Gardner’s story was universal. It was about how far a father would go to protect his son and to keep him safe. It contained an emotional nucleus that touched everyone and we used that as a stepping stone into a story inspired by Chris Gardner’s life." His partner, a moved and inspired Todd Black recalls immediately saying, "My God, this is a fantastic story. It’s like Rocky, a guy who is completely beaten down and goes on to succeed. It was definitely a movie, and we wanted to be the ones who made it." Black and Blumenthal's next move was to contact producer James Lassiter from Overbrook Entertainment. Lassister was very impressed. Now it just so happens that Lassisters partner in Overbrook Entertainment is none other than Will Smith. "I knew it would appeal to Will both as a man and as a father," Lassiter said. Within twenty four hours, of viewing a tape of the "20/20" programme Smith had responded. "From the moment I saw the "20/20" piece, I saw this story as the embodiment of the American dream," says Smith. "The concept this country is based on is the hope that any person, armed with their own will and determination, can create their life, can create their situation, from the lowest of the low to the highest of the high. Any time you see someone who displays that kind of greatness and diligence, the natural question you ask yourself is: would I have been able to do that? Would I have been man enough, father enough, husband enough to stand up and face the adversity the way that person did; the way that Chris Gardner did? These were all questions I asked myself." The next task was to turn a fifteen minute television segment into a full length feature movie. Luck was on their side. Producer Todd Black had just finished working on "The Weather Man". "It’s always about finding the right writer," admits Black. "Fortunately for us, we had just worked with Steven Conrad on "The Weather Man". When shown the tape, Conrad said, "I know how to make this into a movie. You’ve got to let me do it." Trouble was, according to Blumenthal, "Gardner was initially wary of the license that needed to be taken to turn these events into a story for the screen. It was really important to us to meet him so we could reassure him that, no matter what changes we made for dramatic purposes, we would fight passionately to preserve the integrity of how he had lived, and continues to live, his life." As both Gardner and Conrad live in Chicago, a meeting between the two was arranged. Gardner recalls, "Steve’s a Chicago kind of guy, which gave me a sense of comfort, since we had to spend a lot of time together. I told him my story and then he decided which elements could be used in the movie. Steve was very clear with me that he was a dramatist, not a biographer." Gardner says right from the start he told himself, "Chris, you’ve signed away your life rights, so you’ve got to give Steve artistic license." But to tell Chris's story would require some changes. For a start Gardner did receive a small stipend during his internship; in real life, his son was just one year old; he's never handled a Rubiks Cube in his life and his onscreen wife Linda, is a fictional character. "Chris was very honest with me about that period in his life," says Conrad. "We both thought that the most important thing for the movie was to dramatize what it feels like to be broke. He was okay with some dramatic invention as long as I got the feelings right, especially what it’s like when you have no one to depend on but yourself." The producers were impressed when Conrads first script was presented to them. "Steve’s script was magical, like nothing I’d ever read before. He took the true-life happenings and combined them with some original dramatic material," Black recalls adding, "and it all worked." Producer Lassiter was equally enthusiastic. "When I had watched the initial "20/20" tape, I found it fantastic and inspirational, but I didn’t know how you could make a movie out of it. When I read the script, I was amazed. Steve absolutely captured the essence of what the story should be, and from that point on Will and I were in." Now all they needed was a director and a cast. The job of director went to Gabriele Muccino. "The Pursuit Of Happyness" would be his first English language feature film. How did he get the job? "As soon as Gabriele said that Americans take the American dream for granted, he had me hook, line and sinker," says Smith. "I became intrigued by the idea of non-American eyes capturing the beautiful and the not-so-beautiful aspects of this story." Finally a nice little piece of trivia. A cameo role that wasn’t originally in the first draft of Conrad’s script, but the real-life Gardner insisted it be added to the film, was that of the Reverend Cecil Williams. "I saw him in line in the 1980s. Chris really stood out from everyone else because he was the only man who always had a baby with him whenever he was in line. I knew that he had something to offer. He was always smart, always up to something. I knew he was going places, but I didn’t know that he was as assertive and as well-meaning as he has turned out to be. When Chris finally moved to Chicago and began to put things together, especially his finances, I got this call from a man saying, 'I want to make a contribution. You’re my home church. You helped me. And now I want to help you.' Chris is one of those people who received and is now giving back," says Williams, "And he’s doing a good job of giving back." What They Had To Say "I hope audiences will feel inspired to have faith in themselves after seeing this movie," says Newton. "If you look at this guy, his story, and know that it really happened, I think it will allow you to appreciate the riches that life gives you and help give you the strength and courage to navigate some of the tricky parts."
"I had to audition for the role and then I was hired by the producers to actually portray myself in the film," laughs the Rev Williams. "I always wanted to be in movies. Some time ago, I had a very small role in a film, but working on this film has been a very different experience. This is my first major role in a motion picture and I am playing myself."
"Twenty Five years ago, Chris was homeless. The idea of this kind of escalation through society is something people dream about," says Will Smith. "But to actually hear about someone who actually traveled that journey resonates with all of us."
"The real Chris Gardner is a pillar, he is a rock," says producer Blumenthal. "He is an amazing man. My first idea for a logline on this movie was 'Some superheroes are real', because in my eyes, what Chris Gardner did and how he led his life, makes him a superhero."
"I want the audience to understand that this movie is not a fantasy," says Muccino. "This was someone’s life. Someone really went through this kind of nightmare and succeeded."
"My life has been portrayed in some media outlets as a rags-to-riches story," Gardner says. "That part isn’t important. What is important is the commitment I made to my children to be there for them. Ask any parent and that’s going to be the common thread we all have, to be there."
"The biggest challenge for me was to re-create the period authentically without getting fancy," admits Riva. "The look of the 1980s is not a particularly memorable time in our culture."
"We bought fifty vehicles to have with us all the time so that they could be parked to add texture to the shot," says executive producer Louis D’Esposito. "We also had four period buses: one dedicated for interiors, one for exteriors, and two as 'passer-by' vehicles. Plus, we would ask extras to bring any cars they might have that were from the 1960s or 1970s."
"He didn’t care that he had to wear the same tie three days in a row or that his suit didn’t fit correctly," Sharen Davis notes. "As for Jaden, he wore the most popular item for kids at the time, Osh Kosh B'gosh overalls, which they don’t even make anymore. A lot of his clothing we bought from eBay. I actually designed the little jacket that he wears throughout the movie."
"Linda is a character of fiction, so I was left to create what I felt was right within the context of the story," says Thandie Newton. "It was a challenge, but I feel very, very happy with how it turned out." The Verdict "Will Smith produces an outstanding performance in this film, which is based on the real life story of Chris Gardner, a down on his luck African-American who takes an internship without pay, graduated to the a position within a brokerage company and went on to build his own highly successful business. If you like a good story, good performances and a feel good ending, then look no further than "The Pursuit Of Happyness". Smith's co-star is his real life son Jaden Christopher Syre Smith. Jaden, who makes his big screen debut does a remarkabley good job (considering he is just seven years old, playing a five year old). Recommended 4 STARS." Cast & Crew Bytes "THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS" stars .......
1999 NAACP Image Awards Entertainer of the Year Will Smith ["Enemy of the State", "Men In Black I & II", "Ali" and "Hitch"]; Thandie Newton ["Flirting", "Mission Impossible 2", "The Truth About Charlie" and "Crash"]; Brian Howe ["The Majestic", "Catch Me If You Can", "RV" and "Deja Vu"]; James Karen ["The China Syndrome", "Any Given Sunday", "Thirteen Days" and "Mulholland Dr."]; Dan Castellaneta [the voice of Homer Simpson in TV'S "The Simpsons"]; Kurt Fuller ["Auto Focus", "Ray" and "Good Cop, Bad Cop"] Takayo Fischer ["Pacific Heights", "Showdown in Little Tokyo", "War Of The Worlds" and "Memoirs of a Geisha"] and introducing Jaden Christopher Syre Smith as Christopher.
"THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS" was .......
directed by David di Donatello Award winner Gabriele Muccino ["That's It", "But Forever in My Mind", "The Last Kiss" and "Remember Me, My Love"]; screenplay by Steve Conrad ["Wrestling Ernest Hemingway" and "The Weather Man"]; director of photography Phedon Papamichael A.S.C. ["The Weather Man", "Sideways" and "Walk the Line"]; original music by Andrea Guerra ["First Light of Dawn", "Take Me Away", "Hotel Rwanda" and "The Goodbye Kiss"] production design by J Michael Riva ["The Color Purple", "A Few Good Men", "Charlie's Angels I & II" and "Zathura"] and Sharen Davis ["Devil in a Blue Dress", "Out of Time", "Rush Hour", "Ray" and "Dreamgirls"]. Run Time 117 minutes Rated M [AUST] Copyright ©2007 - Columbia Pictures - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2007 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved