Release Date: December 25th, 2006
Genre: Drama | Based on true events
Directed by: Gabriele Muccino
Starring: Will Smith | Jaden Smith
Available on Amazon Prime: https://amzn.to/2VYVyW5
Way more than often, we find ourselves complaining about not being "happy". It always makes me wonder what is "happiness" to us? Is it a very specific feeling? Is it what you get or is it something you have? Does happiness look like something or does it sound like something? Does happiness make you scream or cry or sit back and just the feeling of being overwhelmed? Is happiness something you outside, or is it something you create inside? "Maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue. And maybe we can never have it no matter what."
There is no way that "Pursuit of Happiness" can be described in, that will enable you to comprehend what it leaves you feeling, to your very core. Not once have I watched the movie and not cried. Not once have I watched it and realized even harder how much I take and have taken for granted. And every time I watch it, its effect is way longer and denser than before. When Cristopher( played by Jaden Smith ) makes a complete list of things he'd wanted for so long on the occasion of his birthday but has to narrow it down to just one and only one; when both Chris ( played by Will Smith) and Christopher run to catch the bus and Christopher drops his favorite toy but can't pause a second to pick it up so that they don't end up sleeping yet another night out on a station; When Chris has to work extra hours and is sweating blood to get just one more of his products sold and nobody picks Christopher up; When both of them face cruel luck and sleep in the locked-up public washroom; are very few of the times you give up on holding back your tears because it's just not possible.
As if the direction by Gabriele Muccino, the heart-achingly beautiful acting of Will Smith and Jaden wasn't enough, you're left with a refill to the void in your heart you didn't even know you had; now knowing that it's a real story. Every scene has no meaning if you don't, but every scene has an arrow that'll shoot right across your chest if you try to put yourself just a little into the characters' shoes.
There's so much this movie has to teach you, it's unfair to talk about just one. The struggles of just another usual adult life, the struggles of just another child. The thin line between fatherhood and being a guardian to a child. What could've been an accomplishment of passing another major phase in life as a couple but ended up tearing them apart instead. The uncountable efforts to keep the dissipating faith of a child alive when yours is at a bare minimum. To trying harder while your body gives up on you and your psyche loses its strength to get past yet another day of mental brutality. Working harder even when all you hear yourself say in your head is "I'm done". To not give up, just not give up no matter what. To not await finding but to seeking, creating and sustaining happiness.
It's been more than a decade of this enigma and its value to us only increases. It inspires us more and more.
Throwback to some of the most incredible lines from the movie that left an unerasable impression on all of us.
"I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become."
"The world is your oyster, it's up to you to find the pearls."
"Don't ever let somebody tell you…you can't do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you got to protect it. People can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you… you can't do it. If you want something, go get it. Period."
'Pursuit of Happiness' is the movie you watch when you feel low. The one you watch when you're happy; when you're demotivated; when you need inspiration; when you want to feel better about your life; when you want to do better in life.
It's for you, to remind yourself to be grateful. It's also for you, to remind yourself to work harder because if you haven't achieved the dream, you really haven't given yourself and to the dream enough.
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