Film Review: Hector and the Search for Happiness

Pegg’s performance is high point of mostly unoriginal travel tale

Hector (Simon Pegg) tries to find happiness in China... will he succeed!?
Hector (Simon Pegg) tries to find happiness in China… will he succeed!?

Hector and the Search for Happiness is a curious movie. Based on the trailer alone, you might think you’re in for a lighthearted, feel-good, seize-the-day picture, wherein the lead character Learns and Grows by ditching his staid life in search of adventure, à la Eat, Pray, Love or last year’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. And you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. But the surprising thing about director Peter Chelsom’s film, based on a popular French novel by François Lelord, is that while it certainly contains its fair share of clichés and groan-inducing scenes, it is both darker and more sensitive than you might expect. Continue reading “Film Review: Hector and the Search for Happiness”