Happiness for Beginners (2023)

Fluffy and uneven, this story of a woman on a hiking adventure after a breakup isn't a total waste of time––sort of a Hallmark/Nancy Meyers mashup with beautiful scenery––but not on anyone's top ten list. We picked it because we like Ellie Kemper (in the lead), because something we were planning on streaming that day turned out to be as yet unavailable, and because Netflix was promoting it heavily. Kemper's co-stars include Luke Grimes, Nico Santos, Blythe Danner, and Gus Birney.

Vicky Wight directs and adapted the screenplay from the 2015 novel by Katherine Center. I must admit that the method by which beginners can find happiness (second act) did resonate with me as something we can all stand to remember. If you want to know without sitting through the whole thing, just write me and I'll tell you!

A pleasant half hour of music by composer Sherri Chung is streamable on Apple Music and is accompanied by a bunch of songs, one sung by Danner and two by Birney. Cinematography, including lovely location shots, is courtesy of Daniel Vecchione.

Kemper was last blogged for Laggies, Santos for Crazy Rich Asians, Danner for Hearts Beat Loud, and Birney for Plan B. Jack recognized Grimes from the TV series Yellowstone. This is the third feature for Wight, the ninth for Chung, along with lots of shorts and TV, and the 20th for Vecchione.

Rotten Tomatoes' experienced critics are not pleased with an average of 33%, while its audiences are only slightly more contented at 53. We watched it on Netflix on August 17.