How much do you know about The Pursuit of Happyness? | Quiz

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: He is the son of Will Smith.

Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, the son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, had quite an advantage in the casting process! The first role of any child actor is always a gamble, but in this film it paid off in a fine performance and in the clear love and ease between father and son.

The real Christopher Jr. was only two years old when these events took place, and has said that he doesn't remember any of it.

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: Bone density scanners

Chris's narration explains that bone density scanners are not quite the blockbuster he'd thought they would be: they yield a little more density than X-ray machines, but they're much, much more expensive. As a result, even this natural salesman has trouble closing the deal. About half a dozen scanners remain at the time the film begins, and as Chris comes home day after day without making any sales, his frazzled wife gets closer and closer to the edge.

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: While he was painting the day before, he'd been arrested for failure to pay parking tickets and held overnight in jail.

Chris's car was impounded for failure to pay parking tickets early in the movie, but the debt remains. At the police station, he writes a check for the balance -- there's just enough to cover it -- but he's held until the check clears at 9:30 in the morning. That leaves just 45 minutes to get to the Financial District and the interview, and nowhere near enough time to change into a suit or clean the dried paint off his trousers and undershirt.

It had taken a great deal of dedication to line this interview up; Chris had gone so far as to get into the internship director's taxi and prove his intellectual mettle by solving a Rubik's cube during the ride. Considering the value of first impressions, it looks as though everything is lost when he shows up for the interview dressed as a housepainter, but he manages to carry it off with candor, charm and wit. ("What would you say if a man came in here without a shirt, and I hired him?" asks the chairman of the company. "I'd say he must have had really great pants," Chris replies.)

He's offered a coveted position in the internship program, but realizes during the interview that the six-month internship is unpaid. He considers his options, weighs his sinking bank balance against his dreams, and decides to give it a shot.

Answer: The IRS collects the Gardner's taxes from the previous year -- directly from Chris's bank account.

The Gardners' IRS bill -- mentioned earlier in the film as well -- comes to only about $650, but it's too much for them to pay while keeping a roof over their heads and food on the table. The IRS isn't so concerned about all that, so they simply take the money from Chris's bank account, leaving him with $25 and change. How will he feed his son and pay for daycare and housing?

Answer: The men's room of a subway station

Christopher takes the eviction very badly, throwing a tantrum in the corridor and demanding that his dad just open the door. He's five years old, after all; how can his father possibly explain the system to him in a way he'll understand? They head to a BART station, where Chris manages to turn the outing into an adventure (and the men's room into an exciting "cave").

Most of their belongings are left behind; there's just no way for the two of them to carry them all. They keep their clothing, a few beloved toys for Christopher, and the last bone density scanner -- Chris's only hope of income for the next few months.

Answer: The shelter is first-come, first-served, so he must race there every afternoon to get beds.

Many are called to the Glide shelter, but few can be chosen: there just aren't enough beds. The line stretches around the block on most evenings. So Chris has to leave work early, head to Chinatown to get Christopher from daycare, take the bus to the Tenderloin district, and stand in line with other hopefuls, hoping that he and his son will make the cutoff. Both father and son sacrifice in these daily races; there's a heartbreaking shot of young Christopher's face after his beloved Captain America doll is inadvertently left in the street.

Chris tries to get them into another shelter, but most take only women and children; Glide is the only place where he and his son can be together. The strain of trying every afternoon to find a room -- and, some nights, failing -- takes a heavy toll. Although Chris is a natural salesman and is having great success landing accounts at Dean Witter, his increasing despair has visible effects.

Answer: Yes

In the end, Chris Gardner's hard work and dedication pay off with a handsomely paid job at the Dean Witter brokerage firm. He is so touched, and so relieved, at getting the job that he nearly loses his composure in the boardroom, and as he leaves the building to pick up his son at daycare he can't help crying in earnest. His struggle is over; his dream has arrived; his better life can now begin. As he is surrounded by a crowd of successful brokers on the sidewalk, the real Chris Gardner -- who started his own brokerage firm (Gardner Rich) several years later -- passes by, and the two exchange nods.

Though it took a few liberties with Gardner's life story, "The Pursuit of Happyness" is a beautiful and moving film. I hope you've enjoyed the movie and this quiz!