A film with a message. While somewhat squishy at times it is conveyed in a light-hearted comedy format with Simon Pegg in the driver's seat. Directed by a Brit the title of the film is 'Hector and the Search for Happiness'.
A psychiatrist in London is disillusioned with his predictable but rich lifestyle and decides he wants to discover what makes people happy. The outcome is a random trip around the globe that takes him to the altitudes of Tibet and the metropolis of Shanghai to African wilds and finally the jungle called Los Angeles. Each interaction with people he meets is summarized in one line messages that he jots along the way.
In all these instances he discovers individual moments of what makes people happy and how they define their lives in search of meaning. He has some yoda-ish ahas including the one in the monastery in the Himalayan foothills where the monk advises him that what he seeks is all within.
The film ends with a cameo from Christopher Plummer, a researcher who uses hi tech to map the brains interactions and axiomatic pulses depicting certain feelings. Simon's character lights up the screen underlining that the innermost feeling of happiness is really a mix of all the emotions that a human being can feel.
In a catchy line Plummer's character addresses a classroom of students saying while people are caught up in the Pursuit of Happiness the real meaning of life is in discovering the Happiness of Pursuit.
A psychiatrist in London is disillusioned with his predictable but rich lifestyle and decides he wants to discover what makes people happy. The outcome is a random trip around the globe that takes him to the altitudes of Tibet and the metropolis of Shanghai to African wilds and finally the jungle called Los Angeles. Each interaction with people he meets is summarized in one line messages that he jots along the way.
In all these instances he discovers individual moments of what makes people happy and how they define their lives in search of meaning. He has some yoda-ish ahas including the one in the monastery in the Himalayan foothills where the monk advises him that what he seeks is all within.
The film ends with a cameo from Christopher Plummer, a researcher who uses hi tech to map the brains interactions and axiomatic pulses depicting certain feelings. Simon's character lights up the screen underlining that the innermost feeling of happiness is really a mix of all the emotions that a human being can feel.
In a catchy line Plummer's character addresses a classroom of students saying while people are caught up in the Pursuit of Happiness the real meaning of life is in discovering the Happiness of Pursuit.
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