In 2006 a movie came out that I wanted to see, but I never got around to it. It’s a story that has to do with fatherhood, so with Father’s Day approaching I decided this was a good time to take time to watch it. I found it to be a powerful, engrossing tale that was well written and well acted and really tugged at my heart. No, I didn’t misspell “Happyness.” It comes from the story, wherein the word is misspelled on the day care building.
The movie is based on a true story of a man by the name of Chris Gardner, who is played by Will Smith. Will’s co-star is his own real son, Jayden Christopher Syre Smith, so the chemistry is great. It is the story of a man with dogged determination to find a way to provide food, clothing, and a home for his 5-year-old son. In his struggle he is squeezed for back rent, back taxes, and unpaid parking tickets. Along the way he is stuck in a couple of very humorous predicaments and a number of unbelievably frustrating predicaments. The story becomes a pretty wild ride.
Like all of us, Chris isn’t perfect. Several times he makes up stories to get through difficult, humiliating circumstances. Anger begins to overtake him a few times in the heat of intense frustration, but he regains control. His strong devotion to his son is revealed not only by his determination to provide for him, but by some very loving interactions between them.
The movie is 117 minutes long—about 2 hours. It is rated PG13, but I would say it’s on the conservative end of that rating. There is about a dozen instances of profane or crude language, mostly by other characters. His son reads the “F-word” written in graffiti on the day care building, but Chris tells him he should not use that word. The only thing I could see that was even close to sexual content was a brief scene early in the movie where Chris and his wife Linda, who later left him, were getting ready for work. She was wearing a half-slip and a fairly conservative bra. At one point in the movie Linda hits Chris, and she is a smoker. This isn’t a movie for young children. For older children (maybe 12 and up) you may want to mention that you don’t condone the bad language used, but I think the movie will give them a better appreciation for what they have and a better understanding of the fact that providing sufficient income isn’t always easy. Unless you live in a cave, your kids will hear bad language. You may want to discuss how Chris could have found a way to make things right with the cab driver.
You must realize that in a movie “based on a true story,” the real story often has some factors quite different from the movie, and the movie will have some incidents that didn’t really happen. I found some information about the real story on a website called chasingthefrog.com. In this case, the son was really only 2 years old, but that wouldn’t allow for as much dialog. Unfortunately, Chris was promiscuous and also had some involvement in drugs. “Linda” was an amalgamation of women in his life. There was a period of time his son was with his mom. Some incidents in the movie really did happen, like approaching a man in a red Ferrari and sleeping in a subway station with his son. Some incidents were added, such as getting hit by a car and solving the Rubik’s cube. I think it’s best to evaluate the movie based on the movie itself, because that is what you see and what moves you. You might think of the true story as just a springboard for the movie.
There seems to be several benefits to watching this movie. First of all, this “rags to riches” story reminds us of the beauty of “The American Dream.” Secondly, the movie reminds us that some people who wind up homeless aren’t there because they haven’t tried. Although many are content to be there, some are there through some very hard circumstances. Even some of those who have accepted it might be inspired to want out of it, with some help and encouragement.
I believe the biggest message of the movie is the third one. It reminds us of the heavy responsibility that fathers carry to provide for their families. Granted, in today’s society in some families the mom carries the responsibility of being the “breadwinner,” and in some families the responsibility is quite evenly divided between Mom and Dad. But traditionally, and in about half of American families today, the father carries the responsibility of providing income. (Estimate derived from a National Journal article copyrighted on The Atlantic website in 2018.)
This story reminded me to appreciate my own dad. I know there were some tough times for him. There was a time when the company for which he worked moved their headquarters to another city. That left a dilemma of what to do to earn a living next. Then there was the time when the union went on strike in the company for which he worked, forcing us to live on strike benefits. As the strike dragged on, I think he wondered if he should hang on or look for other work. At times he worked a Saturday job for extra money or tried to sell things on the side.
The writer who reviewed “The Pursuit of Happyness” on Focus on the Family’s Plugged In website described its impact on him very aptly: “As a new father myself, I’m hard put to think of any movie I’ve ever seen that inspires me more to be a good dad than this one does. Days after seeing, it, memories of certain scenes continue to challenge me in my own occasional moments of laziness or self-absorption.”
I think this movie is worth seeing.
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