The Pursuit of Happyness (Widescreen Edition) | 
| Director: Gabriele Muccino
Actors: Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Thandie Newton, Brian Howe, James Karen
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.94
Buy Used: $1.80
You Save: $18.14 (91%)
New (64) Used (84) Collectible (1) from $1.80
Avg. Customer Rating:  290 reviews
Sales Rank: 1965
Format: Ac-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 117
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 15085
UPC: 043396150850
EAN: 0043396150850
Theatrical Release Date: December 15, 2006
Release Date: March 27, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A real-life tale of survival over life's toughest challenges. After a chain of circumstances left Gardner jobless and homeless at age 30 he found himself and his baby son living in a bathroom at a San Francisco train station. Despite the negative situation Gardner continued to fight toward his goal of becoming a broker eventually landing a job as a trainee and rising through the ranks at such companies as Dean Witter and Bear Stearns to his current standing -- partner and owner of the Chicago-based minority brokerage firm Gardner Rich & Co. and self-made millionaire.Features:Documentaries (Making-of documentary)Featurette (Father and Son: On Screen and Off)Interview(s) (The Man Behind the Movie: A Conversation with Chris Gardner)Audio commentary (with director Gabriel Muccino)System Requirements:Runtime: 117 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG - 13 UPC: 043396150850 Manufacturer No: 15085
Amazon.com
A heartwarming film that demonstrates how good, hard-working people can become homeless almost overnight, Pursuit of Happyness is a tour-de-force showcase for Will Smith, who convincingly portrays a down-and-out dad trying to better his family's life. Smith, who usually is cast in effortlessly boyish roles (Men in Black, Independence Day), is wonderful in the film--even in the scenes that shamelessly tug at viewers' heartstrings. Based on the true-life story of Chris Gardner, a San Francisco salesman forced at times to shelter his young son (played by Smith's adorable look-alike offspring Jaden Smith) in a men's room, there is little suspense to the film in terms of Chris' outcome. (His story and eventual success a successful and wealthy Chicago businessman was well-publicized on the newsmagazine show 20/20.) And let's face it, Hollywood's not too keen on making feel-good movies with unhappy endings. The beauty (and suspense, to a certain extent) of this film is in the way the story is told. Though he is constantly rushing around to get to appointments and pick up his child, things do not happen quickly for Chris. When he accepts an internship with a prestigious stock brokerage firm, there's a catch: The position is unpaid, suitable more for trust-fund children than single parents with no other source of income. In many scenes, the viewer panics along with Chris, wondering how he's going to feed his child. While Smith and his son, Jaden, share many tender moments together, Thandie Newton has the thankless role of playing Chris' shrill wife, who deserts her family early in the film. It's not a particularly challenging part for the talented actress, and her departure doesn't impact the storyline much at all. As for the movie's misspelled title, it's inspired from a scene in the film. (Seeing a mural drawn by the children at a daycare center, Chris points out to the proprietor that "happiness" is spelled incorrectly. She notes that it doesn't matter how the word is written--just that the kids have it.) With Pursuit of Happyness, Smith has come out of his safety zone and, in turn, ends up playing his most heroic role to date. --Jae-Ha Kim
Extras from The Pursuit of Happyness 
Behind the scenes footage of
The Pursuit of Happyness
high bandwidth | 
Chris Gardner:
"On Being Studied By Will Smith"
high bandwidth | 
Will Smith And Jaden Smith: "On Will Always Being In Character"
high bandwidth
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Beyond The Pursuit of Happyness on Amazon.com 
More Films Starring Will Smith | 
More Films About Fathers & Sons | 
The Book |
Stills from The Pursuit of Happyness (click for larger image)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 285 more reviews...
 A father's love!!! October 6, 2008
This movie was amazing!!! it was so truely sad what will smith's character had to go through to survive, all the pain he must have felt along the way, but he came out on top at the end ad it was great!!!!
 horrible condition October 3, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The seller shipped it in poor condition, or it got worse during its trip to my house. The case was crushed and the broken pieces inside scratched the disk and everything was sliding all over the place. I sent it back for a refund.
 Certainly inspirational, but possibly a little too focused on money? September 27, 2008
Okay, I may be a teacher for the public education system, but I admittedly have never had to live on the streets. That probably lends some bias to this story as I have never truly desired money as much as the characters here. I do not mock or disregard poverty at all, but it's kind of weird to market a movie based on the struggle for wealth to middle- and upper-class citizens when they are already doing reasonable all right. I guess it's an off sense of morality on my part, but in my case it's weird to see so much focus on material gain.
Even so, this is certainly an admirable story that I feel made a more-than-decent movie that brings a tear and a heart ache to me to watch the suffering of a father and son--both excellent people. I found myself cheering as this common man was able to go against all odds to achieve on Wall Street.
This is a role that is somewhat different from others Will Smith has done, but he and his son did an excellent job. Smith has that character sass and determination that I feel made him perfect for the part.
The true story I feel is even more inspirational. Don't get me wrong, this is a great movie and worthy of its praise. It's just almost patronizing in its way.
Impressive September 15, 2008
I certainly didn't expect such a powerful, moving film. Everything you've read from the other reviewers is true.
If I were to write a "what is it about?" plot summary, I could read that summary and conclude, "nothing I'd want to watch." I'd be very wrong. Again, it is impressive, just like my title says.
An inspirational tale of staying in the game August 9, 2008
Not until the last three minutes of the movie were the story filled with every reason for the main character to just lose it, take it out on society, or simply give up on life; but his love for his son gave him the almost-superhuman-like discipline and next-to-impossible-enduring patience, if at all possible, to have a slim chance to turn things around. Life is not always a happy ending, but if you don't even give yourself that chance, life certainly won't either. But when it is a happy ending, the meaningless world suddenly becomes meaningful. This is what "Pursuit of Happyness" is about.
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