1044. Hector And The Search For Happiness (2014)

Starring: Simon Pegg, Rosamund Pike, Jean Reno

Director: Peter Chelsom

Running Time: 120 mins

Hector And The Search For Happiness is a British film about a psychiatrist who, in order to get his life back in order and help his patients more, goes on an epic global journey in order to find out what the secret of happiness is.

This may be one of those allegedly inspiring and soul-moving travel movies, however it’s absolutely tedious. It’s full of almost unbearable cheese, and whilst Simon Pegg is nice enough in the title role, there’s not nearly enough drama or good comedy to make this at all interesting.

Before I start attacking this, I need to say that this isn’t horrific. It’s not really a painful watch, and I’m sure it’s great for those who want something cheesy (but I’d recommend The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (2013) over this), but it’s just so boring.

So, let’s get going. The first reason that this is a tedious film is that the whole concept is preposterous. It’s not the fault of the filmmakers, as this is based on a book, but still, it has to be said that a guy travelling around the world trying to find out what makes people happy is insanely cheesy.

Call me a cynic, but I found it impossibly hard to buy into this concept and support this man on his global journey, with next to no interest in his goings about and notes about happiness – it was all just mindless schmaltz to me.

Next, the drama in this is so weak. Throughout this long journey (which seems to go on for a lot longer than two hours), there are many dangerous, emotional and inspiring encounters, however none of them feel at all like they’re meant to. Due to the lack of interest for the plot as a whole, it was just not possible to care about any of the drama that allegedly unfolds, further boring me as this droned on.

Finally, in what is labelled a comedy-drama, this wasn’t funny enough. Again, to draw parallels with the 2013 Walter Mitty, it’s okay if the drama becomes the focal point later on in the film, but it’s not okay if there’s next to no laughs in the first half. I think I laughed about three times in the first hour or so, which just isn’t good enough, and with nothing else to get me interested in this cheesy plot, I became even more bored than I thought possible, so that’s why this gets a 5.9 from me.