Following an initial delay to Hector's journey due to the longest series of production company title credits I've ever seen in a movie (It honestly felt like five minutes passed as the film circumvented the globe getting money from every destination that Hector visits), finally begins a journey of self-discovery as every bit uncomfortable and insufferable as a round-the-world flight stuck in economy between a screaming baby and someone of poor personal hygiene it could have been called The Secret Life Of Walter Shitty.
I could have saved Hector a lot of time and effort because the answer to his search.
Happiness is a warm gun. A gun that Hector should use to end his "misery" if he can't be happy living in a luxury apartment overlooking the Thames with Rosamund Pike.
*mild spoilers*
It would probably come as no surprise that after travelling halfway around the world, cheating on his girlfriend the first chance he gets, receiving Pseudowaffle and psychobabble from a host of poor racial stereotypes that he discovers that he already had everything he needed to make him happy.
Beyond the Hallmark card messages of hope ("Happiness is the freedom to love more than one woman at the same time"), the biggest obstacle to anyone leaving this film happy is the central character of Hector.
He is a complete arse. Ungrateful of all that he has, which is much more than most people, and his reasons for the trip are awful e.g. He wants to find out how poor people are happy, yeeesh!
Last year, Simon Pegg successfully managed to get audiences on side with his character in The World's End despite him being a selfish, obnoxious oaf but he fails miserably here which leads me to wonder if it is only Edgar Wright who can bring out his true talent as a leading man.
Hector may have found some small modicum but for everyone else, best keep searching because happiness will certainly not be found here.
1 star
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