A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 12 wins & 26 nominations total
- Linda
- (as Thandie Newton)
- Christopher
- (as Jaden Christopher Syre Smith)
- Chinese Maintenance Worker
- (as George K. Cheung)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaChris Gardner: At the end, the real Chris Gardner walks past Chris and Chris Jr.
- GoofsIn one scene, the train doors close on Chris Gardner's hand while he is holding a bone scanner. He doesn't let go, and the train departs with the doors partially open. That would never happen in real life; BART trains are designed not to move if the doors of any car are obstructed.
- Quotes
Christopher Gardner: [narrating, at a payphone, raining, after learning Linda is taking Christopher away from him] It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on 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?
- SoundtracksWhen the Saints Go Marching In
Traditional
I was very happy that this film never got political and blamed Reagan for the number of "down on their luck" people that were shown, nor was the race card ever pulled out. It was also refreshing that Smith's character never blamed anybody for his troubles.
It's very funny at parts, but be prepared for some serious drama. In no ways is it cliché or contrived or boring. Let's just say that's it not Oliver Stone dramatic. This truly is a must see. To say "I laughed, I cried" would be really lame. It is the truth, though.
We know that Scorsese's crowning achievement "The Departed" is going to take the cake at the Oscars, and I won't be complaining. But this movie deserves to be experienced and taken in by the masses.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- En busca de la felicidad
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $55,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $163,566,459
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $26,541,709
- Dec 17, 2006
- Gross worldwide
- $307,127,625
- Runtime1 hour 57 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1