"Hector and the Search for Happiness"

My guys loved “Hector and the Search for Happiness.” My eldest son had urged me to write a review of it back when it first premiered, but I had some initial resistance since it seemed to be yet another movie coasting on the New Age trend and overused plot devices.  At his insistence, I gave it another look.

Light-hearted novelistic narration (similar to “Stranger than Fiction,”) sets the tone. “Once upon a time there was a young psychiatrist called Hector (Simon Pegg) who had a very satisfactory life. His world was tidy, uncomplicated and he liked it that way.”  My teenage sons laughed during the corresponding montage of Hector’s OCD home life contrasting with his work life as a disconnected, doodling psychiatrist with neurotic and manic patients.

By all rights, Hector should be happy. He has a lovely, charming girlfriend (Rosamund Pike) who loves her Hector for his peculiar quirks. Clara seems content in maintaining his orderly life, while advancing her career. At a work party in her honor, the cracks show through. Her boss jokes that what he likes most about Clara is that she never takes off for maternity leave. When she raises her glass in a toast, “to making a difference,” her boss yells over her, “to making money!”

Back at his office, a psychic patient of Hector’s announces that she can see through his “psychiatrist tricks” and knows that he is just going through the motions. His other patients’ constant whining about trivial concerns finally gets to Hector and he loses it. He realizes that he isn’t helping them get any happier, so he decides to set off on a journey to find the secret to happiness.

His ever-supportive girlfriend gives him permission to “make the most of it.” She sends him off with a notebook with an inscription, “Hector’s search for happiness – a journey. Fill these pages.” The sketches of his experiences and his list of lessons on happiness become the framework of the story.

On the second screening, I released my resistance and uncovered deeper meaning. Hector’s story demonstrated some of the same spiritual principles that I had experienced on my own journey. Once I expressed the intent to find out what I was put on this earth to do, the universe kicked in to teach me.  Likewise, once Hector expresses the intent to discover how to be happy, the universe reaches out to show him.

A world weary businessman offers to show Hector what real happiness is by sharing the pleasures that money can buy in Shanghai. Hector writes, “A lot of people think happiness means being richer and more important.” But it becomes clear that the businessman is only living for the next financial conquest. Constantly working towards a goal is a way of avoiding life - and happiness.

Hector takes the prerequisite New Age trek to a Buddhist temple in the Himalayas.  Hector asks the famous monk how he is able to be happy when he has gone through so much. The monk answers that he is happy BECAUSE he has gone through so much. Hector scribbles, “Avoiding unhappiness is not the road to happiness.” The monk takes Hector to see colorful cloth strips flapping in the wind. As he and the other monks joyfully laugh and dance under the colorful strips, he calls out, “Hector! Look at all of them!”  

But it isn’t enough to jot down lessons in his journal, Hector must experience them himself. Next stop Africa, to help his doctor friend care for the villagers. His journal entry reads, “Happiness is answering your calling.” But Hector has more to learn. He has to go through some brutal experiences to finally feel alive.  

Hector’s search for happiness takes him across the world.  But he only experiences the brilliant colors inside of him when he decides to take down the walls he built and be present in his life and work. His true happiness lies in sharing that authentic, messy life with Clara.  

Movie blessings! 

Jana Segal

www.reelinspiration.blogspot.com

"August Rush"

"A boy stands in a wheat field conducting a symphony that only he can hear. As the wind picks up, the stalks of wheat bend and sway in rhythmic harmony, each sound of nature becoming a note flying off instruments in the boy's mind." The boy narrates, "The music is all around us. All we have to do is listen." This opening sets the mood for the soul lifting film, August Rush. The story is presented as a musical fairytale. I found it to be a spiritual parable.

"August Rush," is the story of a supposedly orphaned boy (Freddie Highmore) who can hear the harmonic connection between all living things -- including his musician parents. He believes his parents are communicating to him through the music in the world around him. He eventually runs away in search of his parents and his musical destiny.

First, the boy must deal with adults who don't understand his gift and orphanage bullies who try to silence the music by tormenting him. I think many artists will identify with the theme of society trying to squash their creativity. I know I did. It took years for me to silence the voices in my head, "When are you going to get a real job?" so I could live up to my potential as a writer. It was inspiring to watch him overcome the influence of the skeptics and reach his potential as a music prodigy. His parents' stories represent the other side of the coin - how we can sleep walk through life if we don't follow our dream.

Some skeptics, eh, reviewers called the movie hokey or schmaltzy, and there were times when the story treads into that territory with a wacky Oliver Twist storyline with Robin Williams playing the Wizard, a musical conman resembling Dicken's Fagon. I found myself wondering how director Kirsten Sheridan could build suspense when the ending is telegraphed in the film's trailers. It is actually the Wizard storyline that successfully builds that suspense. One reviewer couldn't tolerate the coincidences. If this is taken as a spiritual parable, those are serendipities. Serendipities signal that you are going down the right spiritual path.

If you thought it was hokey when Will (in Good Will Hunting) picked up the chalk and figured out advance math problems with no higher education, you may cringe when our hero picks up a guitar and expresses the music of his soul without prior training. To me this scene is nothing less than a miracle. To justify his sudden ability, Director Kirsten Sheridan fashioned his guitar playing after the work of teenage Michael Hedges who used the same innovative method of slapping the guitar strings to make music. Sheridan was prepared to cast a real music prodigy in the role but was won over by Freddie Highmore. Freddie practiced for six months and does an amazing job with the musical performances. Another theme of the film is how music touches the soul and connects us with others. The music in August Rush uplifts the soul with its blend of ambient sound with rock, classical, and gospel.

OSCAR UPDATE: “Raise It Up” was nominated for best Song. (See 2008 Academy Award Nominations for more details.)

August Rush received a standing ovation at the Heartland Film Festival. Why the mixed reviews? The audience at the Heartland Festival was looking for a heartwarming, moving experience and they got it. What do you bring to the movie as an audience member? I believe that if you go with an open heart, seeking a spiritual experience, you will find it in August Rush.
Read more about the music: Finding the Right Notes for 'August Rush' by Robert W. Welkos, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer. 

Movie Blessings!
Jana Segal
www.reelinspiration.blogspot.com