Credits
Distributed by
Sony Pictures Releasing
Production companies
Columbia Pictures
Relativity Media
Overbrook Entertainment
Escape Artists
Directed by
Gabriele Muccino
Screenplay by
Steven Conrad
Based on The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner Quincy Troupe
Produced by
Will Smith
Todd Black
Jason Blumenthal
James Lassiter
Steve Tisch
Starring
Will Smith
Thandiwe Newton
Jaden Smith
Cinematography
Phedon Papamichael
Edited by
Hughes Winborne
Music by
Andrea Guerra
Synopsis
In 1981, San Francisco salesman Chris Gardner invests his entire life savings in portable bone-density scanners, which he demonstrates to doctors and pitches as a handy improvement over standard X-rays. The scanners play a vital role in Chris's life. While he is able to sell most of them, the time lag between the sales and his growing financial demands enrage his already bitter and alienated wife, Linda, who works as a hotel maid. The economic instability increasingly erodes their marriage, despite caring for Christopher Jr., their soon-to-be five-year-old son. While Gardner is trying to sell one of the scanners, he meets Jay Twistle, a lead manager and partner for Dean Witter Reynolds, and impresses him by solving a Rubik's Cube during a taxi ride. After Jay leaves, Gardner lacks the money to pay the fare and chooses to run instead, causing the driver to angrily chase him into a BART station. Gardner boards a train but loses one of his scanners in the process. His new relationship with Jay earns him the chance to become an intern stockbroker. The day before the interview, Gardner grudgingly agrees to paint his apartment to postpone being evicted due to his difficulty in paying the rent. While painting, Gardner is greeted by two policemen at his doorstep, who take him to the station, stating he has to pay for the numerous parking tickets he has accumulated. As part of the sanction, Gardner is ordered to spend the night in jail instead, complicating his schedule for the interview the following day. Gardner arrives at Dean Witter's office on time, albeit still in his shabby clothes. Despite his appearance, he impresses the interviewers and lands a six-month unpaid internship. He would be amongst 20 interns competing for a paid position as a stockbroker. Disadvantaged by his limited work hours and knowing that maximizing his client contacts and profits is the only way to earn the broker position, Gardner develops several ways to make phone sales calls more efficiently, including reaching out to potential high-value customers and defying protocol. One sympathetic prospect, Walter Ribbon, a top-level pension fund manager, even takes Gardner and his son to a San Francisco 49ers game where he befriends some of Walter's friends who are also potential clients. Regardless of his challenges, he never reveals his lowly circumstances to his colleagues, even going so far as to lend one of his bosses, Mr. Frohm, five dollars for cab fare, a sum he cannot afford. Gardner also studies for and aces the stockbroker license exam. As he concludes his last day of internship, he is summoned to a meeting with the partners. Mr. Frohm notes he is wearing a new shirt, to which Gardner explains he thought it appropriate to dress for the occasion on his last day. Mr. Frohm smiles and says he should wear another one tomorrow, letting him know he has won the coveted full-time position and reimburses him for the previous cab ride. Fighting back tears, Gardner shakes hands with the partners, then rushes to his son's daycare to embrace Christopher. They walk down the street, joking with each other (and are passed by the real Chris Gardner, in a business suit). The epilogue reveals that Gardner went on to form his own multimillion-dollar brokerage firm.