This Will Smith Movie is One of the Best Inspirational Feel Good Movies I've Seen.
Can a Will Smith movie shed light on the meaning of happiness?
I warn you. This film may not give you the kind of definition of happiness you are seeking.
But it is a story of how one man found happyness.
How did he do it?
How did he find happiness?
He did it by going for the big one.
I'll explain later. But first, here's a trailer of one of the best inspirational feel good movies you can see.
In the Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner, played by Will Smith, is a man struggling to support his family. Despite his best efforts, things just get worse. The family buckles under the pressure. And his disillusioned wife, played by Thandie Newton, leaves him and their five-year-old son Christopher, played by Smith's son, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith.
A single parent, Gardner is determined to be a better father and provider to his son.
He lands a six-month unpaid internship at a stock-brokerage firm. The prize at the end of six months is a job with the brokerage firm. A dream job that promises to solve all his financial problems. And give him and his son the life they deserve.
But the next six months would also test him to the limits.
The competition between more highly-educated candidates is fierce. At the same time, Gardner's money problems escalate. He and his son are evicted from their apartment. Homeless, they have to scrounge around, sleeping in shelters, bus stations and public toilets.
With his son's welfare at stake, Gardner works very hard. And his perseverance, determination and ingenuity eventually pay off. He gets the dream job. And we are informed in the credits, that he becomes so successful, he goes on to set-up his own stock brokerage firm.
A happy ending.
Chris Gardner is a real person.
And the Will Smith movie is based on his true story.
In movie adaptations, details are often tweaked to tighten the storyline and heighten the drama. The problems were so unrelenting, for a minute I wondered if they had stretched the story too far. And if it weren't for the tender scenes between father and son, this Will Smith movie would have been completely depressing. Not one of those feel good movies that it promised to be by its title.
Even so, Gardner's story would not have been made into a film if it hadn't been inspirational in the first place.
Gardner found happiness.
So what does the pursuit of happiness mean?
It is this:
It's going after your dream.
Seems a pretty obvious definition of happiness, doesn't it? But think about it for a moment.
Gardner didn't have to take that internship. To make ends meet, he could have gotten any other job. Become a waiter. Or a salesman in a big corporation. He didn't have to have such lofty ambitions. He didn't have the education for it. An ordinary man wouldn't have even considered taking up the challenge.
And yet, at the end of his rope. Nearly down to the last dollar. With the welfare of his son resting on him, he still went after the big one.
Not many have the courage to do that. And that's what the Pursuit of Happyness means. That is the meaning of happiness.
It's going after the big one. And doing whatever it takes to get it.
Was Gardner selfish? If his wife were still around, she probably would have thought so.
But, you know, when you go after your dreams, you don't just make yourself happy. You make others happy, too. And because his son was both his responsibility and inspiration, Gardner's ambition became a selfless one.
Watch this Will Smith movie. It really is one of the best inspirational feel good movies you can see.
Then maybe you'll be able to tell me: what is the meaning of happiness for you?
