Top 10 Things The Pursuit of Happyness Got Factually Right & Wrong

The night before Chris Gardner goes on his life-changing interview with Dean Witter, he gets arrested. By the time he gets out of jail, he doesn't have enough time to change into business attire. When Gardner shows up to the interview in dirty, paint-covered clothes, he tells his prospective employers the truth about what happened and even throws in a joke about pants. It turns out that this Dean Witter scene was accurate. The real Chris Gardner showed up underdressed to his interview. Unlike the film, he didn't come directly from jail or make a killer pants joke, but from staying at a friend’s house where he had limited clothing options. But outside of those two details, the movie portrayed the interview scene perfectly.

In the first act of “Pursuit of Happyness”, Chris Gardner gets most of his income by selling bone density scanners. After one of them gets stolen, he becomes desperate to get it back. Chris’ desperation eventually leads him to chase after a man he sees carrying the stolen bone scanner. Unfortunately, he gets hit by a car during an attempt to regain his property. This dramatic scene was completely false. The real Gardner never chased or talked about chasing after a random person in the street to reclaim a bone scanner. As far as we know, he's never been hit by a car at any point in his life. This scene only existed to add some extra drama to the story.

Chris Gardner and his son constantly had to struggle with homelessness in the film. One of their saving graces was Glide Memorial Church. The church is a real place. Audiences can even see Reverend Cecil Williams of Glide Memorial Church cameo as himself in the film. Although the real-life church was only supposed to be for women and their children, the reverend still allowed Chris to take shelter inside. While the film glances over the gender requirements, it gets everything else right. Chris had to arrive by a certain time every day to ensure his spot at night. His daily race to the shelter was an unfortunate and heartbreaking reality.

One of the main reasons that Chris is always broke in the film is because of a bad investment in bone density scanners. He invested his whole life savings into purchasing one piece of medical equipment in bulk. But when the bone scanners sold poorly, Chris quickly spiraled down into financial ruin. This was another dramatic plot device the movie added. The real Chris didn’t burn all his money on bone scanners. Although he sold medical equipment from time to time, he never put all his cash in a single product. The actual story of Chris’ desperate financial situation is much more complicated than a single bad investment.

It only took one random encounter to change the course of the real Chris Gardener’s life. While he was trying to make it in San Francisco, he saw a person driving a red Ferrari. Chris boldly asked the driver what they did for a living. As soon as the Ferrari owner said he was a stockbroker, Chris decided to pursue that career path. The movie portrayed this opportune meeting perfectly (despite a few, minor differences from what really happened). This scene is made even better by Smith’s honest and realistic performance. The moral of the Ferrari encounter is clear: if you see someone in a fancy car, and you want that lifestyle too, you could probably learn a thing or two if you asked them what they do.

After Chris gets a highly coveted internship with stockbroker firm Dean Witter in the film, he reveals that he’s not out of the woods yet. According to his narration, the firm will only hire one out of twenty interns. And during the internship, Chris will be paid nothing. But his relationship with Dean Witter wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the film led you to believe. Most of the people who interned with Dean Witter got jobs working there right after training concluded. The firm just wanted to make sure its candidates could pass a licensing exam. Oh, and Dean Witter also gave its interns small stipends. It’s impressive how the writers took a standard internship and turned it into an unpaid battle royale between candidates.

Throughout the film, Chris puts his son through a lot of hardship and strife. But despite their troubles, Chris Jr. continually looks to his father for safety and guidance. His feelings towards his dad are made clear when he says, “You’re a good poppa.” while they were staying in a shelter. Although Christopher Jr’s words sound like the work of a screenwriter, they’re completely authentic. While the real Chris’ son didn’t say the phrase during a shelter stay, everything else about the scene is authentic. Christopher Jr. endured a lot in his early years. But no matter what he went through, he always had love for his papa.

Audiences who saw “The Pursuit of Happyness” would be forgiven for thinking that the real Chris and his son were always together. But that’s not exactly the truth. During the Dean Witter internship, the real Chris Gardner didn’t always know where his son was. At one point, Chris Jr.’s mother, Jackie Medina, took full responsibility for her son and refused to share his location with his dad. This is a sharp contrast to the film’s portrayal of the family dynamic. In the movie, Chris Jr.’s mother, Linda, leaves him behind to pursue a job opportunity on the east coast. While Linda’s abandonment makes for great dramatic material, her real-life counterpart took more responsibility for her son.

When Chris is unable to secure shelter for himself and his son, he’s left with no choice but to spend the night in a train station bathroom. Although someone bangs on the door, he tearfully does what he can to keep it closed. It’s heartbreaking to see Chris and his son forced into such a desperate situation. This scene becomes even more tragic when you learn that it was completely true. The real Chris Gardner and his son depended on the train system for refuge at night. Before filming began, Smith saw the bathroom where they slept. In an interview with Oprah, he described filming in the bathroom as incredibly emotional. His raw feelings definitely come through during this harrowing scene.

Things go from bad to worse for Chris when he gets arrested. In the movie, he’s taken into custody by police solely because he failed to pay parking tickets. But his real-life counterpart was arrested for an entirely different reason. During a heated argument, Chris got physical with Jackie. Shortly after their altercation, Jackie called the police. Chris was initially arrested on a charge of domestic abuse. Once the judge presiding over his case learned that he had $1200 in unpaid parking tickets, Chris had to spend ten more days in jail following the few he had already served while awaiting sentencing. The writers probably changed the circumstances of his arrest so that he didn’t become irredeemable in the eyes of the audience.