10 Movies Based On True Stories (That Were Total Lies)
8. The Pursuit Of Happyness
The Pursuit of Happyness is a fuzzy little movie that pretty much everyone on the planet likes, starring Will Smith and his son, Jaden, back before we ever realised that Will Smith wanted to make Jaden into a star - you know, when the little fella was actually cute.
In the movie, Smith plays a down-on-his-luck father who will stop at nothing to give his son the life he deserves. After solving a Rubik's cube super quickly, he finds himself in the running for a prestigious job, and the movie chronicles his attempts to win the position in a way that makes you want to cry.
The Pursuit of Happyness is supposed to be based on a true story, and it sort of is, but not entirely in the vein its depicted in the movie, which - firstly - makes Smith's character, Will Gardener, a nice guy. In real life, he was actually a bit of a douche - he wasn't anywhere near as attentive to his son as he is in the movie, and was supposedly absent and unaware of his whereabouts for a long time whilst he was out to get that prestigious job. The kid wasn't with born from his wife, either, but his mistress. Gardener had also been arrested for parking ticket violations, and had reportedly beat his wife on several occassions.
Worst of all: that Rubik's cube thing? Nope.