Hector and the Search for Happiness

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!

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Hector, the acting and production all top class, Mr Pegg showed his acting maturity and Rosamund Pike played her role perfectly, the final scenes were quite poignant and not what I was expecting at all. Toni Collette at the end of the film giving a strong performance and Hector and the audience something to think about, I have used a couple of the things he discovers on his journey in my life already. Some are a bit obvious but there is some good advice in there. If you are looking for an alternative to some predictable movie with an over muscled pretty boy blowing stuff up, this could be for you. Go see it.

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.

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.

But still more than a decent effort to find ones meaning of and in life. I saw someone calling it "Dudes version of Eat Pray Love". That's a funny way of putting it. And it's not that wrong. While it may appear like something more similar to Mr. Mitty (a really good movie about escaping real life in fact, but also finding oneself, through that way), it actually is more like the Julia Roberts movie (or book if you haven't seen the movie).

Simon Pegg is really good in this and he is surrounded by a stellar cast. Maybe watching this after "Gone Girl" will seem a bit weird, but that is up to the viewer to decide. I watched it before, so that didn't affect my experience. A decent story about life and appealing/inspiring to the viewer to maybe do something similar