, 1h57 Directed byGabriele Muccino OriginUSA GenresDrama, Biography, Comedy-drama ThemesFilms about alcoholism, Films about children, La précarité ActorsWill Smith, Jaden Smith, Thandie Newton, Brian Howe, Dan Castellaneta, Kurt Fuller Rating79% In 1981, San Francisco salesman Chris Gardner (Will Smith) invests his entire life savings in portable bone-density scanners, which he demonstrates to doctors and pitches as a handy quantum leap over standard X-rays. The scanners play a vital role in Chris' life. While he is able to sell most of them, the time lag between the sales and his growing financial demands enrage his already bitter and alienated wife Linda (Thandie Newton), who works as a hotel maid. The financial instability increasingly erodes their marriage, in spite of them caring for their five-year-old son, Christopher (Jaden Smith).