Hectors Reise oder die Suche nach dem Glück (2014)

Hectors Reise oder die Suche nach dem Glück: Directed by Peter Chelsom. With Simon Pegg, Rosamund Pike, Tracy Ann Oberman, Jean Reno. A psychiatrist searches the globe to find the secret of happiness.

“Iu0026#39;d decided on the title for this review before I learnt that the source material was a French novel. That explains a great deal. Hector and the… is a deeply felt, funny, moving, insightful and whimsical look at how we (fail to) make the best of life. The film makes its points adroitly, avoiding (sometimes barely but a miss is as good as a mile)maudlin sentimentality. Itu0026#39;s liberally sprinkled with perfect one-liners, acute observations and star cameos but the glue that holds the whole thing together is the relationship between Hector and his girlfriend. Itu0026#39;s heartrendingly real. The version that I watched was a full ten minutes shorter than the original runtime and Iu0026#39;d guess that the few dots that failed to join up as needed were a result of that USA audience edit. Another guess would lead me to give the full length cut an eight rather than a seven. Hereu0026#39;s the deal. Itu0026#39;s a feel-good movie for which you wonu0026#39;t need a supply of sick bags. By the end, I felt… happier. Really!”