13 The Pursuit of Happyness Trivia Questions & Answers

Answer: Gardner

The 'Pursuit of Happyness' was based on a true story, the life of the real Chris Gardner. Chris found himself a single father after his wife left him. He struggled to earn enough money to pay rent, but still aspired to and achieved, the American Dream.
Will Smith has starred in many blockbusters, including, 'Independence Day' and 'Men in Black' as well as being the main character from the long running TV show 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'.

Answer: San Francisco in 1981

BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), a heavy-rail train system that has served the San Francisco area since 1972, is almost a character in its own right. It aids in the escape of a thief, robs Gardner of a valuable item itself (when the "Doors closing" warning is issued, it means it!), gives him access to far-flung neighborhoods, and even provides some shelter at night.

Ronald Reagan is the president who appears on a television screen early in the movie, talking obliquely about the recession and adding to the mood of financial desperation in the Gardner family.

Answer: Gabriele Muccino

Will Smith wanted Gabriele Muccino to direct the 'Pursuit of Happyness' movie, after seeing his films 'Ultimo bacio, L' and 'Ricordati di me'.
He is an Italian director and the older brother to actor, Silvio Muccino, who often appears in his films.

Answer: Rubik's Cube

The Rubik's cube appeared a number of times during the movie, most significantly when Chris solved the Rubik's cube in a short cab journey for Jay Twistle, in order to be offered an interview for the internship at Dean Witter Reynolds. It was originally a gift for Chris Junior, from a friend at his mother' work.
The Rubik's cube was a cube shaped puzzle invented by Ernő Rubik in 1974. The object of the puzzle was to make each side of the cube a solid colour by twisting and manipulating the 54 individual coloured squares.

Answer: On a mural outside Christopher's daycare

The outside wall of Christopher's Chinatown daycare sports a colorful mural filled with smiling children and inspiring words, from "happyness" to a few words of graffiti that aren't really appropriate for a daycare. Chris tries to get the spelling fixed, and attempts to explain the matter to his son after his efforts fail. A true five-year-old, Christopher next wants to know whether the graffiti was spelled right.

Answer: 'He must have had on some really nice pants.'

Chris attended his interview for Dean Witter Reynolds wearing jeans and a vest, after being arrested the night before for failure to pay parking tickets. He still managed to impress the interview panel, despite weaknesses on his application and his lack of professional attire.

Answer: 'Being Stupid'

The five chapters were called Riding the Bus, Being Stupid, Running, Internship and Happiness, in that order. During this chapter Chris left a Bone Density Scanner with a hippy girl, who was busking outside of the Dean Witter building in which he had an interview. She stole the scanner, causing Chris to run out of his interview after seeing the girl running into the underground.

Answer: He sees a stockbroker parking a luxurious red convertible.

The stockbroker parks his glorious car right as Chris is walking by. Struck by the vehicle's sheer opulence, the medical salesman turns around and asks the driver: "I have two questions for you. What do you do, and how do you do it?" The stockbroker explains briefly, Chris starts thinking, and pretty soon he's persuaded himself he can do it.

He soon finds out about Dean Witter's internship program, fills out an application, and sets about trying to charm the internship director so that he'll see beyond the fact that Chris has only a high school education. Sadly, his new plan does not go over well at home. "From salesman to intern?" Linda asks. "That's backwards!" This is the last blow their marriage can take; she makes plans to leave him.

Answer: Linda

Linda left Chris and their son after finding it hard to cope with the lack of money in their family. She struggled for four months, pulling double shifts at her dead end job in a hotel laundry until leaving for a new job in New York City.
Linda was played by Thandie Newton who stared in other films such as 'Interview with a Vampire' and 'Mission Impossible II'.

Answer: Bone Density Scanner

Chris invested his family's life savings on Bone Density Scanners, believeing they were new ground breaking technology. However, as he discovered, they were very costly for only a slightly denser picture than an x-ray.

Answer: Mathematics

This was why he thought he would be good in the stock broker world, despite having no further education. Chris was top of his class in high school, however there were only 12 in his class. He defended this by saying he was also 1st in his class in the Navy, which was a class of 20.

Answer: It was for single mothers.

The lady at the women only hostel offered for Chris' son to stay the night, but Chris refused to be away from his son. She then told him about Glide Memorial Hostle, which he and his son had to hurry to, as it always had a very large queue.

Answer: His shoe

Chris was hit with a car when chasing after a man who had stolen one of his Bone Density Scanners. Moments after Chris was hit by a car, he walked off saying 'I've got to go to work!' (with only one shoe on!)