When Chris Gardner walks past the businessmen in suits, clapping silently to himself, the high-definition audio lets you hear the city ambience—the distant buses, the footsteps, the wind. That immersion is what separates a viewing from an experience.
At its core, the film is a biographical drama based on the almost unbelievable true story of Chris Gardner. Set in 1981 San Francisco, the film introduces us to Gardner (Will Smith), a struggling salesman who invests his life savings in portable bone-density scanners—a device that proves to be a financial burden rather than a breakthrough.
In the early 1980s in San Francisco, Gardner (Will Smith) invests his life savings in portable bone density scanners—a medical device that is only slightly more efficient than the standard X-ray but significantly more expensive. The invention is a financial disaster. As his marriage collapses and he is evicted from his home, Gardner finds himself homeless, raising his young son, Christopher (played with stunning authenticity by Will’s real-life son, Jaden Smith).
