Director: Gabriele Muccino
Year made: 2006
Starring: Will Smith, Thandie Newton, Jaden Smith
Rating: PG-13
Length: 1h 57min
English level: Easy
Themes: Entrepreneurship, American Dream
Context
Set in San Francisco in 1981, The Pursuit of Happyness is about a father, Chris, and his young
son, who struggle with homelessness. Chris works as a salesman while trying to save up money
to provide a better life for himself and his son. This movie shows the difficulty of being
homeless, fighting for a comfortable, happy life, and how in the end, intelligence combined with
perseverance pays off.
Key Vocabulary/Places
• Happyness – intentional misspelling for “happiness”
• broker – a person who buys and sells stock for others
• pursuit – the act of following after; chasing after
• BART – Bay Area Rapid Transit, the metro system in the Bay Area
• San Francisco 49ers – American football team
• eviction – to put a tenant out of property by force
• IRS – Internal Revenue Service; US government agency responsible for collecting taxes
and enforcing tax laws
Discussion Questions
• Why does Chris struggle with homelessness? What does he do to improve his situation
for himself and his son? Do you think he makes the right decisions to achieve happiness?
• What qualities or actions helped Chris achieve his eventual success?
• How did you feel when Chris and his son had to sleep at the BART station?
• What does happiness mean to you?
• Do you think that people have an unalienable right (i.e. a right that should not be taken
away from them) to happiness? Why/why not?
• How do you feel about Chris’s goals in life? To what extent do you identify with them in
your own life?
• Does it surprise you that this film was based on a true story?
Warning/General Advisory
Includes some profane language, some street violence, a scene in a prison, and mild
sex/nudity.
Movie Kit
The Pursuit of Happyness
