The Pursuit of Happyness

2006
PG-13
1h 57m

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

577K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

1,035

Will Smith, Brian Howe, Thandiwe Newton, and Jaden Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

Play trailer2:25

17 Videos

99+ Photos

Workplace Drama Biography Drama

A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

577K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

1,035

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 12 wins & 26 nominations total

Trivia
Chris Gardner: At the end, the real Chris Gardner walks past Chris and Chris Jr.

Goofs
In one scene, the train doors close on Chris Gardner's hand while he is holding a bone scanner. He doesn't let go, and the train departs with the doors partially open. That would never happen in real life; BART trains are designed not to move if the doors of any car are obstructed.

Quotes
Christopher Gardner: [narrating, at a payphone, raining, after learning Linda is taking Christopher away from him] 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?

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Dreamgirls/Charlotte's Web/The Holiday/Apocalypto/Unaccompanied Minors (2006)

Soundtracks
When the Saints Go Marching In
Traditional

User reviews958

Review

Featured review

9/10

Great performances, inspiring story

I was involved with one of the first test audiences almost a year ago, and came away quite impressed with the acting performances and heartfelt punch of Pursuit of Happiness. This is easily one of Smith's best films, as he pours his heart and soul into the main character. While the plot may remain a bit transparent, it leaves you asking the question of yourself - how long would you keep battling to get what you really want out of life? I plan on seeing the film again when it releases to the general public, and am very interested to see what changes were made after running it through the test screenings. As I saw it then, it needed very few, if any, changes.