hector and the search for happiness

Good riddance, 2015!

2015 is finally over.

Anyone else feel like 2015 took a few years too long to come to an end?

Madonna I'm a material girl gif — I am now a material girl.

This time last year, I had just graduated from university to begin my career of job-hunting. I eventually landed a job in the industry I trained in – the media – which is an achievement in itself, really. I have learnt an awful lot about being a grown-up and earning a living.

However, it has meant I haven’t had much energy to do much else. Hence the pitiful turn-out for movie reviews this year.

During my ‘indoor’ time in 2015, I have discovered the TV show New Girl, featuring Zooey Deschanel, and the good-looking Jake Johnson.

Weirdly, I have been able to relate to this fictional show – at least for the first two seasons before it slowly faded into the Hollywood abyss of flattering lighting and two-dimensional characters.

But I digress…

Despite a predominately average 2015, I have ended this year on an unexpected high note by spending December with exciting people, and getting out of my comfort zone.

Now 22, I am ready to continue in this adventurous fashion, by following my passion for writing and travel. I am ready to see things that can’t be found in an air-conditioned office, and tick off some things from my bucket list.

Although, I did actually tick one thing off my bucket list quite recently, for some reason I had written “ride a bus for free” some years ago. I can only assume this was inspired by the Alanis Morisette song ‘Ironic‘

It’s a free riiiiide, when you’ve already paid

But, I really did get to ride a bus for free. The machine that takes your money broke, and the bus driver was all like, “WTF, OMG, YOLO” and let me on for free.

Despite this obvious rush of achievement, I am actually planning to tick larger things off my bucket list this year. Keep an eye out on my blog for developments.

So here we go: Here are the few movies I have reviewed during the year of 2015.

2015 reviewed movies:

Gold, Jerry, Gold!
9.5/10
American Graffiti (re-reveiwed)

9/10
Whiplash
Wild

Hoochie Mama!
8.5/10
Arthur Christmas
A Few Good Men
The Town

8/10
Big Eyes
Inside Out
Godzilla (2014)
Gone Girl

7.5/10
Into the Wild

Giddy-Up!
6/10
What We Did on Our Holiday
Big Hero 6

Yada, Yada, Yada…
4/10
Hector and the Search for Happiness

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Indie, short and other films:
Goldfish
Courting Chaos
My Lonely Me
In the Mood for Love
All in One Creativity Kit
The American Garage
James Herman Banning: Greatest Story Never Told

All the best for 2016!
Jodie

The ‘Runaway’ Film Genre

I have referenced this unofficial genre in many film reviews of late, so I thought I should dedicate a post to it. Especially since it doesn’t have a Wikipedia page.

Because I made it up.

I did a check list for the genre in Wild. So I’ll copy and past it here, and elaborate.

THE RUNAWAY GENRE GROUND RULES:

One or two characters who have suffered trauma
Inner-conflict (usually expressed via flashbacks)
At least one emotional breakdown
Typically involves a marriage break-up or violence
Expression of every emotion
Writing down of feelings/diary-keeping
Genre that is mostly likely to conclude with tragedy (according to unofficial polling)
And of course… The act of running away

CLASSIC EXAMPLES OF A RUNAWAY FILM:

Borderline exceptions to the genre:

Now, I love this genre. Sure, I’ve made up the title and the rules, but they are typically wondrous, fantastical, deep, meaningful, adventurous insights into a character.

I love psychology, and these movies tend to play on why we make the decisions we do, and why we interact in the way we do.

Keep an eye out for films of this genre. They’re quite easy to pick.

Jodie.

Hector and the Search for Happiness

Director: Peter Chelsom
Writer: Peter Chelsom,Tinker Lindsay and Maria von Heland. Based on the novel of the same name by François Lelord
Released: September 2014
Starring: Simon Pegg, Rosamund Pike and Toni Collette
—

I thought this was going to be an English version of Walter Mitty… I think that was the aim anyway, but it certainly wasn’t the final product.

Unfortunately, this potentially deep and meaningful storyline was not achieved due to the general lack of believability, and the distaste toward the main character, Hector (Simon Pegg).

Basically, Hector is a psychiatrist and he finds himself unfulfilled. So he goes on a journey around the world, visiting countries including China and Africa, to find out what makes people happy.

But right off the bat, the audience stops rooting for the protagonist when he cheats on his wife in China, then meets up with an old flame in America. Suddenly, we no longer think well of Hector and the story goes down hill from there.

So the suspension of disbelief has plummeted, and for the rest of the film I’m hoping his wife Clara (Rosamund Pike) tells him he’s a disgusting excuse for a man and dumps him.

To save you the suspense, here are some of the things he learns makes people happy. Like most other films in the ‘runaway’ genre, he writes down his experiences.

Making comparisons can spoil your happiness.
A lot of people think happiness is being rich or important.
Many people see happiness only in their future.
Happiness could be the freedom to love more than one woman at the same time. (Which I’m sure will result in the unhappiness of people around him!)
Nostalgia is not what it used to be.

Anyway. I was disappointed because I love Walter Mitty so much and I thought this would be just as inspiring. Although, the fact it wasn’t shown in the major theatres here in New Zealand should have been a clue.

A great excuse to travel the world for some lucky cast and crew.

Jodie’s rating: 4/10
1) Because I still enjoy movies about travel, 2) it has Simon Pegg in it, 3) it has Rosamund Pike in it, and 4) the trailer is pretty awesome.