SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

maxwelllau The happiness when you were playing, thinking when you were a kid was just alright! It was one of the messages of the professor that I remember the most. It's truely true! Find that feeling!People have their obligation to find their own happiness!

dierregi Simon Pegg is the titular Hector, a psychiatrist stuck in a pleasant rut, living a comfortable life in a beautiful apartment with hot girlfriend Clara (Pike), but still feeling inadequate to treat his patients.Hector decides to start a classic physical and metaphysical journey to discover what makes people happy. He leaves behind a shaky relationship and flies to China for some encounters with rich people and all that money can buy, followed by the inevitable meeting with a Buddhist monk.More traveling to Africa and Los Angeles brings Hector in contact with two old friends, both living happily, following their chosen path. Rather predictably Hector discovers that you could avoid going around the world searching for happiness, because it is not in the destination but in the pursuit. Also, that you'd better try to be happy in the moment because you don't know how long you have.Despite the oversimplified message, Pegg does a great job as Hector, playing his role with sensitivity. The scene with the terminal patient is particularly moving and not manipulative. I also liked the non excessive use of the notebook and Hector's childhood memories as visual complement.A remark about the Chinese "student": Hector is slightly naive and men tend to overestimate their attractiveness, but it is strange that Hector did not consider other motivations for the girl to join him in his room. Also, the gay angle felt sort of contrived. Otherwise, a perfect feel-good movie.

TheLittleSongbird 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

morden-55715 I love a movie that has a clear story and that captures me from the beginning to the end, displaying a whole wide spectrum of human emotions and reactions in different situations. This one has it all. The story, the actors (chemistry between them is great), the locations... a beautiful work of art. I was captured by the frankness of emotion displayed, by Simon Pegg's goofy way of acting and interacting with his colleagues. The atmosphere of this movie is something to be treasured and I am sure that I will watch it again. It certainly gave me a much needed respite from all action-overloaded Hollywood spectacles competing for the throne of: most guys killed, biggest explosion ever seen, most cars destroyed, most expensive actors in the business used. Big thanks to all of you working on this movie.