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The Pursuit of Happyness: A Movie Review
More often than not, the male protagonist in mainstream films made anywhere in the world is the epitome of irresistible physical attributes and charm, exceptionally well-versed in everything, from martial arts to the art of seduction. Thus when a film comes along with the main lead being homeless, struggling in a doomed marriage, with a child to support single-handedly, no substantial career to speak of or prospects to cheer for, it surely has to stand out. This is even more so when the title is as optimistic as ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’. Is there a single person on this planet who can say that this isn’t what he’s forever pursuing? Yet most of us are unhappy with what we have, or feel that we do not have what it takes to make us unhappy. Imagine this, all our lives we are chasing some fancy dream to be happy, while in the process we fail to open our eyes to the trivial pleasure of living and the countless moments of happiness that life throws at us. The genteel character of Chris Gardner, played by Hollywood hunk (must mention this word here, given the absolute contrast of the role he has played in this movie!) teaches us to wake up and look at each day as a blessing. The amazing grace and sheer willpower that sees him through even the worst of life’s difficulties has a strange dual effect on the viewer – your heart bleeds as well as swells with admiration for the man with the box and a little kid in tow, both at once. This Academy Award-nominated movie tells us the real-life ‘rags-to-riches’ story of American stockbroker Chris Gardner (a bespectacled Will Smith). Set in San Francisco in the early 80s, the story recounts the various struggles that Chris had to go through when his wife left him and he suddenly became a single dad, with meager resources and big dreams. To add make matters worse, he was also left homeless, running from one shelter to another every night so as to provide his son with a comfortable bed to sleep in. With an internship at a reputed brokerage firm, the only silver lining on the clouded horizon, Chris went through each day with amazing tenacity and dignity. Well, even the silver lining was not that bright, as only one opening was to be offered at the end of the internship and with a huge number of contenders for the same, the future looked extremely uncertain for Chris. What absolutely touches us here is that instead of giving up on his dream, Chris focused on how best he could top the test and secure the future of his son and himself. All that mattered to him was his son. Sure, there were moments when he just couldn’t hold back the tears, when despair was his best and only friend, but his sheer grit saw him endure those moments with humility. The final moment of triumph for Chris came when he was called into the boss’s office and offered the coveted internship, and here Will Smith gave Hollywood another one of its finest moments. The gamut of expressions that we get to see on his face are many – shock, ecstasy, gratitude and of course, “happyness”. A pat on the back goes out to Italian director Gabriele Muccicno for having delivered such a masterpiece. They say a man will never know where he’s going if he doesn’t know where he came from. Chris Gardener surely knows where he came from and found a novel way to give something back to the streets of San Francisco. All the extras in this movie are real life homeless people, who not only got to share screen space with one of Hollywood’s A-list stars, but also got to earn a fair amount of food money. The lessons to learn from Chris Gardner are aplenty. He teaches us never to lose faith in ourselves, our abilities and in mankind. Living in today’s world of diminishing integrity, this just seems to be the reiteration that we all need. After all, it is this single-minded dedication to what we believe in, especially when we are down in the dumps, which will help us ultimately survive the day. He teaches us not to hanker over the trivial pursuits of life, but to instead focus on the bigger dream of being happy. He proves to us that no matter how hard the road may be, to never, ever take our eyes off the final goal. And instead of blaming our hopeless situations on theirs and throwing in the towel, we must make an effort to be thankful for all that we have, however meager and useless it may appear to be at that time. At the end of the day, it is this pursuit of happiness that makes us the people we are, humbled by our experiences and thus more receptive to the pleasures of happyness. Chillibreeze's disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article.
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