Perfectly adorable

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

I've read a lot of reviews for Hector & The Search For Happiness, and there's a common, and fairly petty gripe that seems to be a theme throughout them, pissing me off no end. In the film, Simon Pegg plays a wealthy psychiatrist with a solid career and a beautiful wife (Rosamund Pike). Deep down though, he feels empty, unfulfilled and as if something is missing, and embarks on a spontaneous, unplanned global voyage to essentially search for the meaning of happiness, or at his own on the smaller scale. Now, a few critics have this whiny sentiment that because he's well off, stable and lucky in life (I won't even use the dreaded 'P' word), that it's somehow offensive to see him search for more, or find himself unhappy. He ventures forth to places like Tokyo, L.A. and Africa in his travels and it seems to be some consensus that because he runs into people from third world areas who haven't been dealt as lucky a hand as he has, materially speaking at least, that he has no right to complain or contest his position or mindset in life. Absolute butthurt. Everyone on this planet, be they billionaires, orphans, middle class mothers, movie stars or refugees, everyone is going through their own private set of problems and inner turmoil, and no one has the right to so blindly insist that some people's problems, mental and/or material, matter more than others just because they have more money or resources than. The richest, most capable individuals could be going through hell on the inside, and they deserve to be acknowledged and sympathized with just as much as anyone else. Grow up. Now that my rant is over, on to the film, which is somewhat of an oddball and not easy to define, genre-wise. The posters and trailers make it out to be one of those quirky 'find yourself' comedy dramas where some plucky misfit goes on a journey, meets various archetypal characters and discovers a bunch about themselves, until the inevitable revelation that caps their story. Well, it is that, and it kind of isn't as well. It's certainly structured like that from beginning to end, but at times it gets quite dark, more than merely momentarily, and has far more of a brain in it's head, both in terms of script and technical execution, than you would see coming. Pegg feels adrift in his profession, smothered by his doting but high maintenance wife and needs that leap into the unknown, which he takes. His first encounter is with a cynical hotshot businessman (Stellen Skarsgard), a man who lives in planes, airports, hotels and nightclubs, filling his time with life's pleasures and the power of commerce, yet fully aware of what else he's missing out on, perhaps the reason he is drawn to Pegg's character. Over to Africa next, where he spends time with relief workers, to see if fulfillment can indeed be found in selflessly aiding others, but things turn intense when he's captured by scary rebels and somewhat befriends a volatile arms dealer (nice to see Jean Reno, who's been laying low these days) with a sad secret of his own. His trip takes him to the states, where he reconnects with an old flame (Toni Colette), no doubt allured by the sweet promise of nostalgia, a powerful force that doesn't always yield happiness when adhered to. A loopy self help guru (Christopher Plummer), Skype sessions with Pike back in England and other encounters beset him, and in the end we wonder what the point of it all was, but this is his journey, not ours. I like that it doesn't necessarily follow a blueprint that we're used to, moves forward in fits and starts, meanders a bit, even veering into thriller territory briefly, his path truly an unforeseeable one that could lead anywhere based on chance, timing and the decisions he makes. That's the mark of a good script, one that surprises and confounds in the best possible of ways, and shirks all labels applied to the final product, arriving on our screens as something just weird enough to be memorable and just this side of accessible in order to not be too much of an off-putting black sheep. Interesting stuff.

I was a bit disappointed with this movie. Probably because I had very high expectations since it was all about happiness and perhaps I expected an answer in the end that is slightly less shallow than the one this movie gives. This movie in the end shows that happiness is when you are with the person you love, your life is not a routine and you have experienced enough to know that that is what matters. Is just that I am not convinced. Happiness must be much more than reliance on another person to feel happy. I do agree that relationships are important. Matter of fact they are the most important thing in life but are they all it takes to make us happy? Its about good relationships rather than a relationship. But Hector had it all along but was not happy. Why? He had open deeds with the past. He needed to know that Agnes was not an option anymore before he realised how much in love he was with Claire. He needed to know that there was nothing he was missing out on. So again happiness is not just about relationships and having them but also realising that what you have is good and nothing out there could be better.

I recently watched this movie and thought the critics were a bit harsh. The movie takes you on a trip of emotions and adventure. Hector is an average guy trying to figure out his place in the world. He has a loving girlfriend focused on work and he is a well- known Psychiatrist. The main premise of the movie is that Hector can't quite figure out how to make his patients happy. Fighting this struggle to help his patients, he realizes he himself does not know how to be happy. So Hector sets out on an adventure to truly find what makes people happy.The movie is often compared to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and I would agree. Although there are similarities, there is a much darker tone to this movie. Through life threatening moments on his journey, Hector lives and learns how happiness comes in many different ways. Happiness does not have a secret formula. There a parts that left me confused, but they tied into the overall message of the movie. It often left me question what makes me happy in life.As mentioned before, I believe this movie deserves a bit more credit. This is the Simon Pegg you have not seen before, and he takes you on an emotional roller-coaster. Through continuous messages given to the audience, you are always questioning yourself about how happy you are. A good movie to me is thought provoking and entertaining and Hector and the Search for Happiness did just that. "We should concern ourselves, not so much with the pursuit of happiness, but with the happiness of pursuit."

Hector & The Search For Happiness is not a standard comedy or drama. I early found my self laughing but i found myself doing much more then that. This movie is about self discovery of a man who's job is to assist his clients in overcoming the worst in their lives but he is unable to assist because he has never experienced emotions like his clients are dealing with. He heads out on a journey that spans multiple countries and puts him in some of the most amazing locations where he has learned how to feel the basic emotions that so many people feel each day. This movie is one of those movies that allows you to feel all the emotions that the main character feels from sadness, fear to happiness. I would highly recommend watching this movie and maybe you will discover something about yourself.