There is not much to say here. This is an awesome film. Light but profound at the same time. Unpretentious. Funny but heart felted. Beautifully crafted.A True Hidden Gem.I hope you can see this one with an open heart. You won't regret it.

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.

He used to be funny and smart. This movie is just a lot of old tosh really. Storyline is weak. The pursuit of happiness. Indeed. First we get Tintin, then we get Eat Pray Love. Then we get a completely uninteresting ending. I would spend my valuable time watching something much worth it. Like "Little miss Sunshine", Forest Gump or even Trainspotting. All much more interesting about personal growth an the elusive search for happiness. On the plus side, some great actors in the movie, like Stellan Skarsgård and Christoper Plummer. Toni Colette's character had the depth of a paper plate in this one, so not really possible to rate her acting. But Simon Pegg, he had it, then lost it.

There was a good, perhaps even great, film in 'Hector and the Search for Happiness'. With its concept and cast, it had enormous potential.Unfortunately nowhere near enough is done with the concept and while the cast do all they can all have been used better and all have been better. The concept, the titular character's search for happiness, was a great one, was really intrigued to see what the film could do with something seemingly indefinable (like beauty, love and truth).And then there is the cast, all consisting of talented actors, from Simon Pegg who is a gifted comic actor, Toni Collette who is always good regardless of the material, Rosamund Pike who is one of the most beautiful living actresses around and is far better an actress than she is given credit for (in general she needs bigger roles and better material, as was proved with her incredible career-best performance in the excellent 'Gone Girl'), Jean Reno who is always never less than game in tough guy roles to Stellan Skarsgård and Christopher Plummer.'Hector and the Search for Happiness' despite my disappointment with it does have its good points. It looks great, with very handsome cinematography and exotic locations beautifully shot. The soundtrack is memorably whimsical and fitting, there is a moment with Toni Collette that did bring a lump to my throat and Hector and Clara's relationship while clichéd and under-utilised has its moments of sweetness and charm. The supporting cast is also good, despite all of them giving better performances and most being deserving of far more screen time than they actually got (especially Collette and Reno).Rosamund Pike does bring a sympathetic charm to a thankless role that saves the character from being completely forgettable, if maybe a tad too stoic compared to the rest of the performances and the reason why anybody would say that she struggled as a comedienne here (considering what she had she did a serviceable job) is because her comic material was not that good. Jean Reno is appropriately menacing, though his appearance is somewhat brief and he disappears too quickly, Christopher Plummer is very funny (by far the most successful when it comes to the comedy) and Stellan Skarsgård is as confident as he can be. Toni Collette is touching in her far too short screen time, but if you are going to have somebody as talented as Collette for goodness sake don't waste her talent by giving her little to do.Pegg however didn't work for me as Hector, even for a titular character it did feel like there was too much of him and the supporting cast being almost completely side lined. Pegg is a very gifted and likable comic actor, but 'Hector and the Search for Happiness' doesn't do anything with his comic talents and it is incredibly difficult to root for Hector, so Pegg resorts to giving a performance that's both over-compensated and somnambulist, definitely one of his worst (perhaps the worst) performances. How can a film have an actor as funny and charming as Pegg and make his character here the complete opposite? 'Hector and the Search for Happiness' manages to, and it's frustrating.In fairness, the script and storytelling have much to blame, as does Peter Chelsom's bland directing. There is some quite lazy scripting in 'Hector and the Search for Happiness'. The humour, from as early on as the truly idiotic first few minutes, fails to be even mildly amusing, Plummer aside, often cornball and awkward actually. It is also heavy in mawkish schmaltz and clichés, also containing very little that is insightful or thought-provoking, Hector's philosophical musings sounding like they came out of a fortune cookie. The storytelling, for a story with a very episodic nature, is far too disjointed and jumpy with some very jarring shifts in tone that gives off a sense of indecisiveness. It too felt too slight and over-stretched, the actual story seemed thin and the telling of it paced erratically. The concept is practically wasted by that the answer to happiness and the search for it hadn't been found (if the film had it, this viewer certainly missed it) and that Hector hadn't learnt anything, hadn't changed or found how to be happy. The ending also feels rushed, too convenient and somewhat heavy-handed, wanted to feel uplifted and feel good but got neither.The characters are written very badly with Hector being a wimp and idiot for practically the whole duration of the film, most supporting roles being come and go and under-utilised and Clara felt thankless at the end of the day. Even worse are the numerous stereotypes, both characters and cultures, written and portrayed in such a broad and yet trivial fashion that it is easy to see why anybody might take offence.Overall, had potential but had wanting execution. 4/10 Bethany Cox