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Hector and the Search for Happiness
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - Koch Media Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (1st February 2015). |
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The Film
 ***This is an A/V and Extras review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** Everyone wants to find it. Hector and the Search for Happiness is the uplifting story of one man's global quest to find out whether happiness truly exists. Featuring stunning performances from an all-star cast including Simon Pegg, Rosamund Pike, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgard and Jean Reno. Hector is an eccentric yet lovable psychiatrist who finds himself at a crossroads in life; his patients just aren't getting any happier and his life is going nowhere. Feeling trapped between his mundane daily routine and his neurotic girlfriend, Clara, Hector decides to break away from his sheltered London life and go on a global quest to find out whether happiness truly exists - and more importantly, whether it exists for Hector. Along the way he meets friends old and new, learning some valuable lessons on his journey of self discovery that proves equal parts colourful, dangerous, exotic and hilarious.
Video
Koch Media have presented the comedy drama (I refuse to recognise the word dramedy) on to Blu-ray in the United Kingdom, using the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The transfer receives an AVC MPEG-4 encode, and is 1080p. It generally looks fine, but it is a little inconsistent. The biggest issue by far that I had with this transfer, is that the grain structure doesn't just change from scene to scene, but from shot to shot. Although it never descends into feeling noisy, the grain structure can go from very light one moment, to quite erratic and heavy the next. The scenes where this happens the most tend to be very early on in Hector and Clara's home, or the scenes with Jean Reno. Blacks are also a little inconsistent. Often deep and inky and showing high levels of clarity, sometimes we do get some noticeable levels of crush. Colours feel natural throughout, with each country receiving a different palette, always suiting the location. Some of the long-range shots look absolutely great, with one shot down a busy Chinese alleyway showcasing great clarity and a high level of detail. In fact, details are solid for the duration, with close-ups of faces and clothing showing more minute details well, and background items never looking blocky or clunky - though they are sometimes intentionally out of focus when characters are in deep dialogue. The transfer is clean, with just one or two very small specks, and no major blemishes. There were no causes for concern such as excessive digital noise reduction or edge enhancement. The feature is uncut and runs 119:28.
Audio
Two audio options are included: - English DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1 - English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo For my viewing, I obviously opted for the lossless English DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1 track, which was a pretty good experience. Whilst Dan Mangan and Jesse Zubot's score is as predictable as the film itself, it does a pretty good job of helping the film become as immersive as possible with solid use of the surrounds and LFE. The surrounds also make great use of the large array of environmental effects, whether it be crowds, vehicles, or even insects. Dialogue is clear at all times, but the occasional line does feel a little too low volume wise. There are no issues with the track like drop outs, scratches or background hiss. Although far from reference quality, it's a strong, enveloping track. Optional English subtitles are available for the hard-of-hearing.
Extras
Start-up Trailers (1080p): - "Wish I Was Here" (2:00) - "Son of a Gun" (1:49)
Overall
This film got a bit of a hard time with the critics, and although I agree it is very predictable I think it was hard done by. It's a fun, well cast film for a rainy day.
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