Funny, sincere and very entertaining Hector and the Search for Happiness comes to DVD. The film features incredibly good acting, pinpoint direction using wide angle photography as a tool for awesome vistas and a story that as much comedy as heartfelt drama. It’s the kind of film you can sit down with your favorite beverage and a loved one for a little timeout from a busy or humdrum day.
Once the hit of his college friends, Hector (Simon Pegg) has been leading a serious lifestyle as a prominent Psychiatrist. Recently he has been getting the dull sensations of a boring life. His longtime companion Clara (Rosamund Pike) keeps herself active with her job and taking care of Hector’s home life. She has yearnings of a family and getting to an age of concern for having children inadvertently adding to Hector’s quandary about his understanding of happiness.
One day he tells Clara that he wants to go on a journey to find out about Happiness and what other people think about it as part of a study. Although she’s not enthused about Hector going off alone on this odd quest, she gives in to his adventure. The list of places are exotic, but when Hector reaches out to travelers along his route things aren’t what he expected.
The film has a great premise and a fun one, especially when your guide is Simon Pegg. He’s a master of situation comedy and he makes the most of every minute he’s on screen to give his all. Whether he’s dealing with a rich playboy banker in China (Stellan Skarsgard), a tough drug lord (Jean Reno) in South Africa or even his former lover Agnes (Toni Collette) in Los Angeles, Pegg as Hector knows how to create a lot of excitement.
Putting Simon Pegg through his paces is Serendipity director Peter Chisholm who keeps his film moving at a very fast pace. He introduces a handful of interesting patients that give Hector reasons to doubt himself. They push him to find out if he is happy and whether anyone has found happiness for that matter. Each of the trips take him to countries that are burgeoning with people just trying to exist and yet living their lives in their own idea of happiness. Even Los Angeles has its esoteric look at what comprises happiness. Here he’s given Hector a chance to ground himself before taking on the true meaning of what he already has.
Within this journey Chisholm depicts the hardships that people go through to find happiness. While showing the squalor mixed with the beauty of each country his film projects images of strong willed people. They help Hector in odd ways with the meaning of family and opening up one’s mind to what happiness he may already have.
Hector and the Search for Happiness has been rated R by the MPAA for language and some brief nudity. It also contains some violence and a harsh kidnapping that may not be suitable for immature teens.
BONUS FEATURES
The movie has some very good after-the-film features that give the viewer a chance to see how the film gets from camera to screen.
“Around the World with Simon Pegg” the actors, producers and director take you through the characters, the countries and the meaning of happiness. It’s a nice overview of the movie you just saw.
“The Making of Hector and the Search for Happiness” a nice short and sweet feature on the shooting of the film that contains interesting points and funny outtakes. It also has a short sequence showing how they use an orchestra to add the music to the film. It gives personal comments by the actors and how they liked working with director Peter Chisolm.
“Commentary by Peter Chisholm” after you have seen the film you can turn on the commentary where Chisholm gives an in-depth personal tour of the film including how he came about doing it, the ‘making of’ scenes, etc.
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Simon Pegg, Toni Collette, Rosamund Pike, Stellan Skarsgard, Jean Reno, Ming Zhao and Christopher Plummer
Director: Peter Chisholm
MPAA Rating: R for language and some brief nudity
Genre: Comedy, Adventure, Drama
Running Time: 1 hr 54 min
Video Release Date: February 3, 2015
Original Film Release Date: August 14, 2014
Language: English
Format: DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.40:1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Number of Discs: 1 Disc
Distributed by: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
