Sony Pictures original film The Pursuit of Happyness was released December 15th, 2006.
#TPOH made $307.1M at the international box office.
rottentomatoes: 67%
metacritic: 64
imdb: 8.0
oscars: 1 nomination
golden globes: 2 nominations
SAG awards: 1 nomination
Chris Gardner
Chris Gardner becomes a stockbroker in San Francisco, California.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
1 nomination: 2007
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
1 nomination: 2007
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
1 nomination: 2007
“Time to get up, man. Come on. What do you mean? For your birthday gifts? You know you’re only getting a couple of things, right? Okay, well, that’s smart. Yeah, make a list. Can you spell everything you’re thinking of? All right. That’s good. How you doing in here, man? Um, no, I gotta go to Oakland. Well, maybe, we’ll see. Give me a kiss. I’ll talk to you later. Excuse me. Oh, excuse me, uh… when is somebody gonna clean this off? And– and– and the Y? The Y. We talked about this. It’s an I in ‘happiness.’ There’s no Y in ‘happyness.’ It’s an I.” — Chris Gardner
“I’m Chris Gardner. I met my father for the first time when I was 28 years old. And I made up my mind as a young kid that when I had children… my children were gonna know who their father was. This is part of my life story. This part is called ‘Riding the Bus.’ This machine, this machine on my lap– — it is not a time machine. It’s a portable bone-density scanner. A medical device I sell for a living. Thank you very much for the opportunity to discuss it with you. I appreciate it. Well, maybe next time. It gave a slightly denser picture than an x-ray for twice the money.” — Chris Gardner
“Hey, baby. Uh… no, nothing. Look, I can’t get Christopher today. I know. I have got to go to Oakland. Yes. Look, this is what we gotta do. You see that car? The one with the pretty yellow show on it? That’s mine. There’s no parking near hospitals. That’s what happens when you’re always in a rush. Thanks anyway. Very much. Maybe next quarter. I needed to sell at least two scanners a month for rent and daycare. I’d have to sell one more to pay off all of those tickets under my windshield wiper. The problem is… I haven’t sold any for a while.” — Chris Gardner
“Since when do you not like macaroni and cheese? What’s that? What is this? From who? What are you supposed to do with it? No, I’m gonna have to file an extension. Yeah, well, I gotta file another one. That’s– it’s $650. I’ll have it in the next month. Yeah, a little bit. Look, why don’t you let me dot his? All right, just relax. Okay? Come here. Calm down. Let’s get ready for bed. Hey, put your plate in the sink.” — Chris Gardner
“Ooh. Man, I got two questions for you: what do you do? And how do you do it? Stockbroker. Had to go to college to be a strockbroker, huh? Hey, you take care. Hey, I’m gonna let you hang on to my car for the weekend. But I need it back for Monday. I still remember that moment. They all looked so damn happy to me. Why couldn’t I look like that?” — Chris Gardner
“I’m gonna try to get home by 6. I’m gonna stop by a brokerage firm after work. I wanna see about a job there. You know, when I– when I was a kid, I could go through a math book in a week. So I’m gonna go see about what job they got down there. Stockbroker. Yeah. Don’t talk to me like that, Linda. I’m gonna go down and see about this, and I’m gonna do it during the day. I don’t need you to tell me about my sales calls, Linda. I got three of them before the damn office is even open. Linda, that is what I am trying to do. This is what I’m trying to do for my family, for you and for Christopher. Linda. Linda.” — Chris Gardner
“This part of my life is called ‘Being Stupid.’ Can I ask you a favor, miss? Do you mind if I leave this here with you just for five minutes? I have a meeting in there and I don’t wanna carry that in there looking smalltime. Here is a dollar and I’ll give you more money when I come back out. Okay? It’s not valuable. You can’t sell it anywhere. Um, I can’t even sell it, and it’s my job. All right? Be right back.” — Chris Gardner
“Yes. How are you? Yes, sir. Thank you very much. I need to go. Um… I’ll– I’ll bring this back. Thank you. Trusting a huppie girl with my scanner. Why did I do that? Excuse me. Excuse me. Like I said, this part of my life is called ‘Being Stupid.’ Hey! Hey! Hey! Don’t move! Don’t move! Stay–! Stop! Stop! Don’t move! Stop this–! Stop the train! Stop! Stop! The program took just 20 people every six months. One got the job. There were three blank lines after ‘high school’ to list more education. I didn’t need that many lines.” — Chris Gardner
“Hey, wake up. Eat. Oh, yeah, I’m going to. So go ahead, say goodbye to it, because I’m coming back without it. You ain’t had to add the ‘good riddance’ part. It’s written as P-P-Y, but it’s supposed to be an I in ‘happiness.’ Uh, no, actually it’s a noun. But it’s not spelled right. Yeah, that’s spelled right. But that’s not part of the motto, so you’re not supposed to learn that. That’s an adult word to show anger and, um, other things. But just don’t– don’t use that one, okay? What’s that say on the back of your bag? Oh, yeah? What’s it say? Yep. ‘Ten-Gallon Head.’ I grew up in Louisiana, near Texas. Everybody wears cowboy hats. And a ten-gallon’s a big hat. I was smart back then, so they called me Ten-Gallon Head. Hoss? How do you know Bonanza? You watch Bonanza at daycare? When? When do you watch it? After snack? After your nap? Yeah, what’d you–? What’d you put on there? He says he’s been watching TV. Love boat? That’s– that’s not the navy. I mean, he could watch television at home. We’re paying you $150 a month. If he’s gonna be sitting around watching TV all day, we’re taking him out of here. Can you at least put the dog upstairs in your room or something?” — Chris Gardner
“I was waiting or Witter Resource head Jay Twistle, whose name sounded so delightful, like he’d give me a job and a hug. I just had to show him I was good with numbers and good with people. Mr. Twistle, Chris Gardner. Hey, I wanted to drop this off to you personally and make your acquaintance. I thought I’d catch you on the way in. I’d really love the opportunity to sit and discuss what may seem like weaknesses on my application. Yes, sir. You have a great day. Hey, yeah, how you doing? This is Chris Gardner calling for Dr. Delsey. Uh, yeah, look, I’m running a little late for a sales call. I was wondering if– yeah, Osteo National. Right. We can still–? Half an hour? Yes. Beautiful. Thank you, thank you. Hey! Hey! Hey!” — Chris Gardner
“This part of my life… wait! This part here… it’s called ‘Running.’ Hey! Hey! Wait! Hey! Wait! That was my stolen machine. Unless she was with a guy who sold them too. Which was unlikely, because I was the only one selling them in the Bay Area. I spent our entire life savings on these things. It was such a revolutionary machine. Can you feel it, baby? What I didn’t know is that doctors and hospitals would consider them unnecessary luxuries. I even asked the landlord to take a picture. So if I lost one, it was like losing a month’s groceries. Hey, hey! Wait! Wait! Forget what? Yeah, I know. Hey. One, two, three! Hey, hey. What do you mean? You don’t know that that’s a basketball. This could be an ant farm. This could be a microscope or anything. There, there. All right, come on. Open him up. Open him up. That paper’s a little heavy, huh?” — Chris Gardner
“You should’ve seen me out there today. Somebody stoles one of the scanners. I had to run the old girl down– what? What the hell you got attitude about? ‘Whatever’ what? Hey, Roy. Roy! can you–? Can you beat your little rug when nobody’s out here? There’s dust and shit all over. Hey, wait a second. Wait a second. Listen, look. Linda, relax. We’re gonna come out of this. Everything is gonna be fine, all right? So you don’t trust me now?” — Chris Gardner
“Mr. Twistle. Hi. Chris Gardner. I submitted an application for the intern program about a month ago, and I would just love the opportunity to sit with you briefly– Mr. Twistle. Actually, I’m on my way to Noe Valley also. How about we share a ride? All right. So when I was in the Navy, I worked for a doctor who loved to play golf, hours every day and I would actually perform medical procedures when he’d leave me in the office. So I’m used to being in a position where I have to make decisions and… Mr. Twistle, listen. This is a very important– I can do it. No, I’m pretty sure I can do it. Let me see it. Give it here. Oh, yeah. Oh, wow, you really messed it up. Uh, it looks like it works around a swivel, so the center piece never move. So, if it’s yellow in the center, that’s the yellow side. If it’s red in the center, that’s the red side. So… you can slow down. Yeah, I can. Yes, I can. I’m gonna get it. Goodbye. I’ll see you soon. Um… two– a couple of blocks. Just flip around. No, no, no! Please, stop! Please, please, please! Please! He should’ve paid you! I’m sorry. I’m sorry! No! No! No! No!” — Chris Gardner
“Hey, yeah. Sorry I couldn’t make it home on time. Yeah, I know. I’m sorry about that. Look, I’m on my way right now. Are you all right with Christopher? What? Linda, wait a minute. Hold it, hold– it was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson… and the Declaration of Independence… and the part about our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking: how did he know to put the ‘pursuit’ part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue. And maybe we can actually never have it… no matter what. How did he know that? Linda. Linda. Hello? Who is this? Hey. Yeah, of course. Uh, how are you? Yes, sir. Absolutely. Uh… yes. Yes, I do. Um… uh… hold on one second. Uh, go ahead. I have one. Yep. 415. 864. 0256. 4796. Yes, sir. 415-864-0256. All right, yes. Thank you very much. 864-0256. 4796. Janice. Hey. Did you–? Have you seen Linda and Christopher? No, no. Excuse me, did Linda and Christopher come in here? Wayne, Wayne, Wayne. Can’t talk to you about numbers right now. 864-2… and you owe me money. You owe me $14. I need my money. I need my money.” — Chris Gardner
“Hey, don’t you ever take my son away from me again. You hear me? Don’t take my son away from me again. Do you understand what I’m saying to you? Don’t you walk away from me when I’m talking to you. Do you hear me? Do you wanna leave? You wanna leave? Get the hell out of here, then, Linda. Get the hell out of here. Christopher’s staying with me. You are so weak. Then go get happy, Linda! Just go get happy. But Christopher’s living with me. Did you hear what I said? Christopher’s living with me! Hey. Come on, let’s go. How you doing, Mrs. Chu? Look, just get your stuff. Yeah, I know. Um… I talked to Mom earlier. Everything’s fine, okay? Let me ask you something. Are you happy? All right. Because I’m happy. And if you’re happy and I’m happy, then that’s a good thing, right? All right. You’re– you’re sleeping with me. You’re staying at home, where you belong, all right?” — Chris Gardner
“Christopher. Yeah, I’m good for that, Charlie. I’m gonna get it. The hell am I supposed to be out of here tomorrow? All right, look. I need more time. All right, I’ll paint it myself. All right, but I just– I gotta have some more time– I got my son up in here. Yeah. What happened? Does it have to be the full amount? This is all I got. What? No. No, I can’t spend the night here. I have to pick up my son. Sir, I have a job interview at Dean Witter at 10:15 tomorrow morning. I cannot stay– what am I supposed to do with my son? What am I supposed to do–? I take care of him. All right. Can I have my phone call, please? Hey. Um… you gotta get Christopher from daycare. I can’t. Just keep him for the night and I’m– and– just one night. I’ll pick him up from daycare tomorrow. I’m gonna go right– you can just– you can drop him off and I’ll pick him up. Come on, Linda. Why you doing that? He’s fine. All right, just– all right, take him to the park, and bring him back, all right? All right, just bring me my son back. Okay? Linda? All right, all right. Um, thank you. Uh… bye.” — Chris Gardner
“I’m okay? Excuse me. Excuse me. Chris Gardner. How are you? Good morning. Chris Gardner. Chris Gardner. Good to see you again. Chris Gardner. Pleasure. I’ve been sitting there for the last half-hour, trying to come up with a story that would explain my being here dressed like this. And I wanted to come up with a story that would demonstrate qualities that I’m sure you all admire here, like earnestness and diligence. Team-playing, something. And I couldn’t think of anything. So the truth is… I was arrested for failure to pay parking tickets. And I ran all the way here from the Polk Station, the police station. I was painting my apartment. I hope so. Well, I like to think so. Yes, sir, I wanna learn this business. Absolutely. Mm-mm. Mm-hm. Yes, sir. Uh, 12. It was a small town. But I was also first in my radar class in the Navy, and that was a class of 20. Can I say something? Um, I’m the type of person… if you ask me a question, and I don’t know the answer, I’m gonna tell you that I don’t know. But I bet you what. I know how to find the answer, and I will find the answer. Is that fair enough? He must’ve had on some really nice pants.” — Chris Gardner
“Thank you very much, Mr. Twistle. All right, so I’ll let you know, Jay. Yeah, I’ll give you a call tomorrow sometime– listen, there’s no salary. I was not aware of that. My circumstances have changed some… and I need to be certain that I’ll be– yes, an ass– A-hole. There was no salary. Not even a reasonable promise of a job. One intern was hired at the end of the program from a pool of 20. And if you weren’t that guy, you couldn’t even apply the six months’ training to another brokerage. The only resource I would have for six months would be my six scanners, which I could still try to sell. If I sold them all, maybe we might get by.” — Chris Gardner
“I got him. I got him. All right. I got it. Christopher’s staying with me. You know you can’t take care of him. I had an interview at Dean Witter for an internship… and I got it. So I’m gonna stand out in my program. No, it’s not. Yes, hi. Yes, I’d like to leave a message for Mr. Jay Twistle. Yeah, my name is Chris Gardner. The message is: thank you very much for inviting me into the program. I really appreciate it and I’d very pleased to accept your invitation. Yes, that’s it. Thank you.” — Chris Gardner
Linda
“Hey. What happened? Oh, no, you don’t, Chris. I’m back on at 7. So I gotta get Christopher home, feed him, bathe him, get him in bed, and be back here by 7? And we got the tax-bill notice today. What are you gonna do about that?”
“What? It’s a gift for Christopher. Cynthia from work. It’s for adults. Chris can’t use it. She didn’t know. Make every side the same color. Did you pay the taxes? You already filed an extension. That means interest, right? And a penalty? I have to go back to work.”
“For what? Yeah? What job? What job? Strockbroker? Not an astronaut? Mm-hm. You should probably do your sales calls. Do you remember that rent is due next week? Probably not. We’re already two months behind. Next week we’ll owe three months. I’ve been pulling double shifts for four months now, Chris. Just sell what’s in your contract. Get us out of that business. What’s the matter with you?”
“Try and sleep. It’s late. Bye, baby. Come back without that, please. Goodbye and good riddance. Bye. Oh, yeah. You got me doing all the work. Whatever. Whatever, Chris. Every day’s got some damn story. You said that before, when I got pregnant. ‘It’ll be fine.’ Whatever. I don’t care.”
“Hello? Chris, I missed my shift. I’m leaving. Chris, I’m leaving. Did you hear what I said? I have my things together, and I’m taking our son… and we’re gonna leave now. I’m gonna put the phone down. I’m going to leave. We are leaving.”
“Leave me alone! Yeah. Yes, I want to leave! You’re the one that dragged us down. You hear me? No. I am not happy anymore. I’m just not happy! Stop!”
“Hello? What do you want? What happened? No. No, I wanna take him to the park. To Golden Gate after daycare tomorrow. How is he? I’ll bring him back around 6.”
“He’s asleep. Okay, baby. I’m going to New York. My sister’s boyfriend… opened a restaurant, and they may have a job for me there. I’m his mom, you know? He should be with his mom. I should have him, right? What are you gonna do for money? Salesman to intern’s backwards. I gotta go. Tell him I love him, okay? And… I know you’ll take care of him, Chris. I know that.”
Christopher Gardner
“All right, Dad. I think I should make a list. Yeah. Yeah, I know. Just to look at and study so I can choose better. I think so. Okay. Can we go to the park today, after?”
“Since birth? Bye, mom. Bye, Mom. Is it an adjective? Is ‘fuck’ spelled right? Okay. My nickname. We pick nicknames. ‘Hot Rod.’ Did you have a nickname? What? What’s that? Hoss wears that hat. Hoss Cartwright on Bonanza. We watch it at Mrs. Chu’s. Yeah. After Love Boat. I made my list for my birthday. A basketball or an ant farm.”
“Did you forget? You’re not supposed to have any of those. You have two now. Hey, Mom. Whoo! That’s a basketball! No, it’s not. Yeah, but I got it.”
“Where’s Mom? But she told me she was coming to pick me up today. Where do I sleep tonight? Yeah. Yeah.”
Jay Twistle
“Good morning, Jane. Hi. Hi. Uh, okay. Okay, we’ll start with this, Chris. And we’ll call you if we wanna sit down. You too.”
“Taxi! Yeah, hi. Yeah, hi. Listen. What can I do for you? Listen, I’m going to Noe Valley, Chris. Take care of yourself. All right, get in. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. This thing’s impossible. No, you can’t. No one can. That’s bullshit. No, you can’t. Sorry. Okay. Listen, we can drive around all day. I don’t believe you can do this. No, you can’t. No, you can’t. I’m telling you, no one can. See? That’s all I ever do. You almost have this side. Holy cow. Oh… you almost had that one. Look at that. You’re almost there. This is me. Good job. Yeah.”
“Chris. Jay Twistle. Dean Witter. I’m fine. Listen, do you still wanna come in and talk? All right. I’ll tell you what. Come on by day after tomorrow, in the morning. We’re interviewing for the internships. You got a pen and paper? All right. Hello? Chris? Okay, write this number down so you can call my secretary, Janice. She can give you all the specifics. Okay, 415. 864. 0256. Yeah, extension 4796. Right. Call her tomorrow. Okay, buddy. We’ll see you soon.”
“Parking tickets? He’s been waiting outside the front of the building with some 40-pound gizmo for over a month. Yes, sir. I don’t know. One too many, apparently. No. No. Jacket and tie.”
“Chris, I don’t know how you did it dressed as a garbage man, but you really pulled it off in there. Hey, now you can call me Jay. We’ll talk to you soon. ‘You’ll let me know, Jay?’ What do you mean? What are you talking–? You hounded me for this. You stood here– no. All right. Okay. Tonight. I swear I will fill your spot. I promise. Know what I’ll look like? If you back out, you know what I’ll look like to the partners yeah, an ass A-hole, all the way. You are a piece of work. Tonight.”
Dean Witter
“Chris? Tim Brophy, Resources. Follow me. Let me see if I can find you an application for our internship. I’m afraid that’s all we can do for you. See, this is a satellite office. Jay Twistle, he’s in the main office, he oversees Witter Resources. I mean, I’m– you know, I’m just this office. As you can see, we got a hell of a lot of applications here, so… normally I have a resume sheet, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere. We, uh… okay.”
“Morning, Mr. Twistle. Yes, I did. Mr. Gardner. This way. It’ll be right this way. Chris Gardner.”
“What were you doing before you were arrested? Is it dry now? Jay says you’re pretty determined. He said you’re smart. And you want to learn this business. Have you already started learning on your own? Jay? How many times have you seen Chris? Was he ever dressed like this? First in your class in school? High school? How many in the class? I’ll say. Chris. What would you say if a guy walked in for an interview without a shirt on and I hired him? What would you say?”
“Dean Witter. Your name? Is that all? Okay. Bye.”
San Francisco, California
“Should be here soon.”
“What’s that? It’s a time machine, isn’t it? Seems like a time machine. That seems like a time machine. It’s a time machine. Take me with you. This guy, he has a time machine. He travels in the past with this machine and…”
“We just don’t need it, Chris. It’s unnecessary and expensive. Thank you. It’s possible.”
“I’m a stockbroker. You don’t have to. Have to be good with numbers and good with people. That’s it. Feed the meter.”
“Oh, little TV for history. For history. Navy. Go pay more at other daycare if you don’t like Navy TV. You late pay anyway. You complain. I complain. Bye.”
“Hey, get back here! Hey, man, I– who’s he? He’s that guy…”
“I’m trying to keep a clean house.”
“1710. Uh, where are you going, sir? Excuse me, sir. Where are you going, please? Okay. Hey! Stop it! Hey! Where are you going? Come here! No! You asshole, give me my money! Son of a bitch. Come here! I’ll kick your ass! Idiot. I’ll get you! I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kill you! Hey! Stop it, you son of a bitch! Stop him! Stop him!”
“Chris. No. You catch the game last night? You didn’t see that, 118, 1–? No, I haven’t seen them. 119-120. Double overtime. Moons hits a three-pointer at 17 seconds left. Blam–! What’s your problem with numbers? Yeah. I’m gonna get that to you. Fourteen’s a number.”
“Hi. Hey, listen. I need the rent. I can’t wait anymore. Why don’t you go two blocks over at the Mission Inn motel? It’s half what you pay here. Listen, Chris. I need you out of here in the morning. I got painters coming in. No. All right. One week. And you paint it.”
“Chris Gardner? Payable to the City of San Francisco. You gotta pay each parking ticket, otherwise, you’re staying. We verify at 9:30 tomorrow morning. You gotta stay until this thing clears. We verify at 9:30 tomorrow morning. 9:30 tomorrow morning. Is there anyone else who can–? Maybe we can go and have Social Services pick him up.”
