Hector and the Search for Happiness, 2014
Directed by Peter Chelsom
Starring Simon Pegg, Rosamund Pike, Toni Collette, Stellan Skarsgård, Jean Reno, Christopher Plummer, Chad Willett
SYNOPSIS:
A psychiatrist searches the globe to find the secret of happiness.
It’s really hard to dislike Simon Pegg (unless you’re our own Rohan Morbey) and it’s even harder to dislike him when he is doing a movie that is trying its hardest to be positive. In a world with such a bleak outlook on life, we should be praising a movie like Hector and the Search for Happiness for at least trying to give us some levity. Make us take note of the things we have and why we should be pleased to have them. But sadly this is not the case. Because Simon Pegg is pretty unlikeable in this sanctimonious, forgettable and rather bland movie.
Pegg plays the titular Hector, a man who has virtually everything in his life. He has a well-paid job, a luscious apartment that overlooks the centre of the city and a beautiful-yet-subservient girlfriend (played by the usually-wonderful Rosamund Pike). Yet there is something missing from his life and so, to better his understanding of what his paitents need from him, he goes on a round-the-world trip to find out what makes people happy. Along the way he discovers the truth and blah, blah, blah, you get the idea.
The biggest problem with Hector and the Search for Happiness is that it’s all too predictable. Hector goes on a journey (both physically and mentally), encounters colourful characters along they way and discovers that everything he needs is right in front of him. This isn’t even a spoiler as, not only is it clear from the outset, it’s also spelled out in the trailer. Director Peter Chelsom (who also co-wrote the script), doesn’t try anything different or creative with the story and it doesn’t even really feel like Hector went on that much of a journey of discovery. As credit to Chelsom, he does have some fun with the simple story by adding in some artsy elements like animations and even a rather odd toy aeroplane scene to represent a bumpy plane ride.
If it weren’t for some half-decent performances from all of the cast (no matter how small their role), there would be little point to Hector and the Search for Happiness. Pegg is charming as always, Pike is pretty vanilla but serviceable while the cameos from the likes of Toni Collette, Stellan Skarsgård, Jean Reno and Christopher Plummer are all perfectly fine. It is Pegg who carries the heavy-acting load, but it’s not like this is something that really pushes him as an actor. He may be known as a comedic actor, but you only have to look at the more serious moments of Shaun of the Dead and The World’s End to see that this is a familiar feather in his bow.
Problems then arise from the fact that Hector isn’t that likeable as a character. We’re supposed to watch him grow and become a better man but even when it’s all said and done he’s not that great. He abandons his girlfriend without a moment’s notice, insults her work and then nearly sleeps with someone else on the first night he’s on his trip. It doesn’t paint him in the best light which then makes it harder to sympathise and therefore empathise with his quest. The end message of the movie is good and some might even call it enlightening, but it’s all marred by Hector’s initial actions.
It’s hard to say that Hector and the Search for Happiness is a bad movie because it is not “bad”. There have been way worse movies released in 2014 and there will no doubt be worse still to come. But it is rather forgettable and very paint-by-numbers. Peter Chelsom clearly had fun with his visual styles and the cast do good jobs, but Hector and the Search for Happiness is just rather bland.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Listen to the Flickering Myth Podcast with Peter Chelsom here.
Originally published August 15, 2014. Updated November 29, 2022.
