Hector and the Search for Happiness
Relativity Media | Release Date: September 19, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
29
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
12
Negative:
14
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago Sun-TimesBill ZweckerSep 27, 2014
This film is a winner. It will not only entertain you, but also make you think about what it takes to bring happiness into your own life. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliSep 26, 2014
In order to show the "happiness" noted in the title, director Peter Chelsom ventures into some dark territory to provide a contrast. This results in a surprisingly unpleasant scene of torture and deprivation that may shock some viewers expecting to see a lightweight Simon Pegg dramedy about the meaning of joy. Read full review
60
Total FilmSimon KinnearDec 14, 2014
It might look as though Hallmark, Benetton and Richard Curtis have collaborated on a movie, but Chelsom’s lightly subversive, self-aware tone bolsters Pegg’s best shot yet at a mass-appeal crowd-pleaser. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia PuigOct 2, 2014
An awkward blend of fable, travelogue and relationship drama, it's the story's hybrid style, vapid message and predictable arc that disappoint. Read full review
50
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreSep 27, 2014
Hector might have been better off staying at home and reading a book, which also pretty much applies to the audience, in this case. Read full review
50
Village VoiceAmy NicholsonSep 16, 2014
Hector is trying to say something true about a generation of quietly dissatisfied demi-adults who are terrified to take emotional risks. At least it left its comfort zone and tried. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Sep 21, 2014
There’s more existential wisdom in five random, zombie-infested minutes of Shaun Of The Dead than in the full two hours of this feel-good folly. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzSep 25, 2014
Hector and the Search for Happiness is more like "audiences and the search for a good movie," and despite the effort of Pegg and the other actors, you won't find that here. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesMartin TsaiSep 22, 2014
Hector may indeed learn that narcissism stands in the way of happiness, but he also walks away with his privileges intact and unchallenged. Read full review
40
The GuardianMike McCahillSep 22, 2014
Whatever enlightenment there is here proves far too easily gained. Keep looking, folks. Read full review
40
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergSep 18, 2014
Mr. Pegg, normally a live wire, makes an affable hero, but the movie often forces him into blandly earnest mugging. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierSep 18, 2014
Hector wants to connect to our inner child, but it feels more like a long story from a good-hearted but dull grandparent. Read full review
40
Time Out LondonCath ClarkeAug 13, 2014
Simon Pegg plays the world’s most unconvincing psychiatrist in this fluffy, irritating Brit comedy. Read full review
40
EmpireOlly RichardsAug 11, 2014
Despite the gusto its star brings to the role, it's hard to ride shotgun on Hector's voyage of discovery. Read full review
38
Boston GlobePeter KeoughSep 25, 2014
Though not everyone agrees, Ben Stiller’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” came close to finding the secret for making a movie about the secret of happiness. Peter Chelsom’s Hector and the Search for Happiness tries hard, but fails. Miserably. Read full review
37
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanSep 25, 2014
There are no surprises here, only blandly reassuring homilies. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenOct 1, 2014
Not even this sprightly cast can buck the privileged sense of entitlement that bedevils this movie. Don’t count on the impish humor that Simon Pegg has unleashed so successfully in other movies to save the day. Read full review
30
The DissolveKeith PhippsSep 19, 2014
The film aims for twee, but lands on torturous. It’s narcissism blown up to a global scale, in the guise of a quirky voyage of self-discovery. Read full review
25
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniSep 26, 2014
Filled with embarrassing gosh-golly moments about non-Western cultures, it's a staggering, and insulting, example of cultural myopia. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubSep 25, 2014
“Avoiding unhappiness is not the road to happiness,” Hector writes in his book. But avoiding this movie might be a good start. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineSteve MacfarlaneSep 19, 2014
It culminates in a weepy climax that verifies its status as a proud hunk of propaganda from America's massive self-help industry. Read full review
25
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleySep 19, 2014
It's "Eat, Pray, Love"-lite, and "Eat, Pray, Love" was already "lite." Read full review
20
TheWrapInkoo KangSep 25, 2014
In its conflation of happiness and self-knowledge, “Hector” often feels like the visual approximation of a therapy session. And just as therapy is work, enduring this mess is exertion, too. Read full review
20
VarietyJustin ChangAug 26, 2014
Happiness means steering clear of Hector and the Search for Happiness. Read full review
20
CineVueJamie NeishAug 14, 2014
If there's a positive to be taken away from Hector and the Search for Happiness, it's that British cinema doesn't get much worse than this. Read full review
20
The TelegraphRobbie CollinAug 14, 2014
What distinguishes the film from last year’s backpacking adventure, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, apart from its lobotomised worldview and charred, corroded soul, are Hector’s philosophical musings – “people who are afraid of death are afraid of life,” is one – that pop up on screen in a handwritten font whenever a lesson has been learnt. Read full review
10
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinAug 14, 2014
The film manages, impressively, to be both crushingly banal and offensive in its use of cultural stereotypes. Watching it is like being brutally violated by a greeting card. Read full review
0
New York PostLou LumenickSep 17, 2014
Even with appearances by such dependable performers as Toni Collette, Stellan Skarsgård, Christopher Plummer and Jean Reno, the interminable Hector and the Search for Happiness will most likely inspire audiences to search for the exit door. Read full review
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