Hector and the Search for Happiness 2014

Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times: 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 more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: "Hector and the Search for Happiness'' will most likely inspire audiences to search for the exit door. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: A sweet-natured film that flounders a bit before reaching its satisfying destination, "Hector and the Search for Happiness" is about precisely what its title indicates. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: Trite, flat-footed, culturally insensitive, and sagging under the weight of more than 25 credited producers ... Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: What possibly could have possessed a comedian as sharp as Simon Pegg to squander his gifts on a movie as soggy as Hector And The Search For Happiness? Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Although Hector goes to places that are actually on a map, in reality each trip is a journey to Clicheland, where stereotypical characters do stereotypical things, for Hector's observation, excitement and, sometimes, disappointment. Read more

Peter Keough, Boston Globe: "Hector and the Search for Happiness" tries hard, but fails. Miserably. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: The life lessons are patronizingly simple, and the views of exotic locales seem to have come out of an in-flight magazine. Read more

Leslie Felperin, Hollywood Reporter: The film manages, impressively, to be both crushingly banal and offensive in its use of cultural stereotypes. Read more

Martin Tsai, Los Angeles Times: Hector may indeed learn that narcissism stands in the way of happiness, but he also walks away with his privileges intact and unchallenged. Read more

Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly: Hector and the Search for Happiness isn't trying to be funny. It's unfashionably earnest, the sort of dopey pound mutt you feel guilty for not showering with love. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: A movie bearing as faux-naive a title as this has to make a pretty good case for itself. This it decidedly does not do. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: "Hector" wants to connect to our inner child, but it feels more like a long story from a good-hearted but dull grandparent. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times: Mr. Pegg, normally a live wire, makes an affable hero, but the movie often forces him into blandly earnest mugging. Read more

Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: A rancid, insulting, and cynical dramedy about a man who travels around the world to reconnect with his soul. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: While there's limited value in Hector's search for happiness and the dozen-plus "lessons" he learns about the emotional state, the film works nicely as a character piece. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: It's important that, as we follow Hector's travels and travails, we see him as well-intentioned but flawed. Pegg allows that to come through. Read more

Cath Clarke, Time Out: At times the whole thing is a hippie's beard whisker away from a clueless pop star on a charidee PR trip to a developing country. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Potential peeps out occasionally in Hector and the Search for Happiness, but then flounders and gets lost in a bland sea of sentimentality and cultural myopia. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: Spoiler alert: Happiness has to do with loving others and self-acceptance. Read more