Hector e a Procura da Felicidade

At the time of writing this review, there is a massive absence of films suitable for audience who does not necessarily enjoy titles such as Expendables III or Hercules. If you happen to be one who seeks some deeper meaning in your movie experience, this film is for you. In fact if you are not, you may still find some aspects of the film entertaining enough.

In summary, the main character Hector has some grown up problems and in order to find some closure to his past issues, he takes an epic journey. From a Simon Pegg film, you would expect these journeys to be very funny and light adventures. Sometimes these adventures are indeed funny and light but mostly they are rather serious. Issues faced include midlife crisis, relationship problems, corruption and poverty in Africa, etc. The film has a fast enough phase an it is never boring or depressing, yet it can be both funny and serious at the same time. I believe the film is currently underrated by the IMDb crowd.

If you have watched Simon Pegg films with zombies, aliens or cops and you are looking to find more of the same experience, this film might not satisfy your expectations. This film is a genuine and sometimes lightly philosophical attempt to ponder and think about what makes us human beings happy and satisfied with ourselves.

"Hector and the Search for Happiness" is a warm little comedy/drama that isn't necessarily insightful on what it takes to make people happy, but it will lift up your spirits nonetheless. Hector (Simon Pegg) is a, well, there's no other word for it, boring psychiatrist. He is bored with his job, doodles a lot, is basically being mothered by his girlfriend (Rosamund Pike as Clara), doesn't have many friends and isn't really doing anything with his life. One day he comes to a realization that he really can't help his patients get out of their depressions or solve their problems because he isn't happy himself. He doesn't want to admit it to his girlfriend, but he also still pines for that one girl that could have been "the one" (Toni Collette as Agnes) that he lost years ago. He decides to take an impromptu trip exploring the world. Taking notes along the way, he meets a slew of different characters, all of which have different views and beliefs on what happiness is all about and comes to his own conclusions after living through all sorts of adventures.

Despite the title, I wouldn't call this film a guide to finding true bliss. It's more a dramatic adventure, with some comedy sprinkled on top, of a guy who is unhappy and decides that he is going to find a way to change that. The main reason I'm saying this is because Hector doesn't really come to any mind-blowing conclusions about happiness and your average Joe can't exactly take an impromptu vacation from his job to go flying to China, Africa and Los Angeles on a whim. The film is more of a journey for Hector, with you being invited to come along for the ride. For this character, the conclusions he comes to really are mind-blowing because he's basically been a zombie for many years. When I say that this film isn't going to necessarily change your interpretation of happiness, that's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just that I want you to know what you're getting into before you decide to watch the film.

When it comes to Hector's adventures and encounters, there are some nice moments of sweetness, of comedy and even a few moments of genuine tension and fear. You might think that this film is a straight comedy from the casting of Simon Pegg in the lead, but that's not really the case. Many of his encounters begin as comedic but eventually turn into disappointments. Hector catalogs what he has and hasn't discovered in his sketchbook and moves on. It's like being in college and going for a work placement. You go to a place and figure that you'll get a ton of experience and probably even get offered a job. Odds are, you'll leave slightly disappointed, but wiser than you were before you arrived and in retrospect, you'll cherish those memories. Part of you wonders what it would have been like if things had gone differently, but when you go to the next work placement, you realize that the one job you might have had but didn't get might not have been what you were looking for in the first place. I really enjoyed this aspect of the film, the series of encounters where Hector meets the different people whose lives intersect with his in different ways. My favorites probably being a rich businessman played by Stellan Skarsgard who decides to show him what his vision of happiness is and the beautiful woman named Ying Li (Ming Zhao) that he immediately grows close to soon after. Hector encounters new people, makes some friends, puts notes into his sketchbook, begins realizing who he really is and then keeps moving on to the next step in his self-discovery. It turns out to be a warm quest and you're glad to go along for the ride.

Just because there are some pretty heavy moments of drama, it doesn't mean that the film is a downer. There are some very funny moments throughout, particularly in the wisdom he finds in the simple people of Africa (I know the continent is huge and that's a broad statement, but I can't recall which country, if it is even specifically mentioned). The film also has many whimsical moments where his drawings and sketches are brought to life or Hector finds himself daydreaming about his childhood. I actually admire the delicate balance that the director/screenplay writer Peter Chelsom managed to accomplish here. The brief amount of comedy is just enough to offset the dramatic moments and that blend balances the moments of enlightenment and discovery very well. You will also very much enjoy the semi fantastical developments in Hector's adventures. It helps ease you through the dramatic moments because deep down you get that it might look pretty dire at times but things are ultimately going to be alright. They say that a foul mood is contagious. "Hector and the Search for Happiness" shows that a good mood can be contagious as well. This is the kind of movie that you go to watch with your family and everyone comes out of the theater with a smile on their face, even if they weren't blown away. It's a slight little film, and probably not what you expect to be but that's OK. "Hector and the Search for Happiness" is just what you need to cleanse your pallet after the summer blockbusters and the fall thrillers to reset your mood back to cheery, wide-eyed and optimistic. (Theatrical version on the big screen, October 7, 2014)

I'd decided on the title for this review before I learnt that the source material was a French novel. That explains a great deal. Hector and the... is a deeply felt, funny, moving, insightful and whimsical look at how we (fail to) make the best of life. The film makes its points adroitly, avoiding (sometimes barely but a miss is as good as a mile)maudlin sentimentality. It's liberally sprinkled with perfect one-liners, acute observations and star cameos but the glue that holds the whole thing together is the relationship between Hector and his girlfriend. It's heartrendingly real. The version that I watched was a full ten minutes shorter than the original runtime and I'd guess that the few dots that failed to join up as needed were a result of that USA audience edit. Another guess would lead me to give the full length cut an eight rather than a seven. Here's the deal. It's a feel-good movie for which you won't need a supply of sick bags. By the end, I felt... happier. Really!

Hector and the Search for Happiness (2014)

I suppose the title makes clear that this is a journey and that it has some pitfalls. I mean, there is no easy solution to the problem of finding happiness. Unless you find that you had it all along. Such is the potential here as Hector (the hilarious and versatile Simon Pegg) leaves his somewhat normal but semi-nice girlfriend in London to search the world for true happiness. Yeah, really.

So it's a fable, of course. No one does this quite so easily or with such lucky (and grossly unlikely) connections along the way. But the clichés of happiness, beginning with plain old rich decadence, and then Tibetan monks who have some sense of pure deep undecadent innocent joy. And then a whole series of alternative of people who have some part of happiness. Hector takes notes and keeps going, his girlfriend frustrated but materially distracted in their posh pad.

When things turn for the worse you know (since it's a fable) that it will not stay that way. New adventures arise.

But does he find happiness? Or is it, like Dorothy in Oz, a bit like you realize there is truly no place like home?

What makes this very fun, very unexpected romp worthwhile above all is the funny fun and sometimes very serious performance by Pegg. He's got a well known screen presence from the wacky comedies (like "Shawn of the Dead") and in a way he plays off of that here. But he also transcends it enough to make you believe there is more than meets the eye here. The whole movie is fun because he's fun to be with.

And will you learn a thing about what makes people happy? I hope not, because this is a stream of clichés without much or any insight. You can shout—hey, that's not the point— but it still leaves the movie a bit superficial.

It leaves it very fun, too, however, and all is quite well in the end. See it. It's quite cheerful.

In the mood for a film, I stopped by the local art house cinema this afternoon. Of the films on offer, this looked like it might be good, though I didn't know too much about what it was about, and really didn't expect much.

Turned out to be a great film. Funny, poignant, and inspiring all at once. Simon Pegg is terrific as a psychiatrist who experiences a sort of existential crisis, and decides to disrupt his tidy, organize, and predictable life to search for the makings of Happiness. His research produces a collection of Buddhist-like conclusions about what may or may not lead to happiness. Along the way, Pegg's character, Hector, begins to 'live', and we the viewer, if we're paying attention, gain some philosophical insights.

The more I think about this film, the more layers of meaning and nuance I realize were lurking beneath the surface of this thoroughly delightful movie. I left the cinema feeling introspective, inspired, and ...Happy. I was moved to indulge in some of the little things that make me happy: a few bars of Amedei chocolate, a meander through the arboretum, a book of poetry; as well as moved to examine what things in my life lead to happiness, and what things lead to unhappiness.

This is a film I would like to see again, and will likely purchase for my movie library.