Netflix's Happiness for Beginners

I happen to have a soft spot for rom-coms, and one of them I'll be reviewing in this post is called Happiness for Beginners. It stars Ellie Kemper and Luke Grimes. Helen has always lived her life as far from the edge as possible. Newly divorced, she joins a quirky group of strangers on a survival course for the adventure of a lifetime, with the hope of learning how to live and love again.

So like I said, this stars Ellie Kemper and Luke Grimes, and also features Nico Santos, who does his best to steal every scene that he's in. Ellie Kemper plays the role of Helen, the one who's newly divorced and looking to do something different in her life. Luke Grimes is Jake, Helen's younger brother's best friend, and he ends up being on the same hike with her.

Now the setup is very familiar, and as far as relationship building, there's nothing new here. We have the two leads who don't totally get along, but aren't overly antagonistic to each other.

But we also know from their shared glances and mannerisms that they could have a growing crush or even an attraction towards each other. The thing that surprised me most in this is that it's way less of a comedy. The jokes and the situations, while sometimes a little humorous, aren't set up for big laughs. I had chuckled a few times, but that was about it. There's much more drama than comedy, I felt it should have been should be classified as a rom-drama instead. And I'm not upset with the drama or even the lack of laughs. It just wasn't expected, so the story took on a different tone for me.

In the group of hikers, we get a bunch of different personalities, and they're all meant to clash with at least one other at some point. But these don't ever get harsh or emotionally out of control.

There's just some light ribbing at times, but nothing too mean, and really all of the characters outside of the three that I mentioned are mostly just background. And we do get some idea on who each of them are through just campfire stories and sharing, and they all do begin to become sympathetic and endearing in their own ways. There are times, though, when I don't think the movie knew exactly what it wanted to be.

The story was straightforward enough, and really, aside from being more of a drama than a comedy, it's pretty much a run-of-the-mill romantic movie. But there are parts during the film when graphics would be shown on screen to just illustrate something about a character, and I'm pretty sure these were designed for some levity, but it didn't work for me. The titles we watch and really their significance didn't come back around to a point within the narrative, so it was just a wasted moment that didn't have a purpose.

There's also a lesson that Helen is meant to learn, and even though it's self-motivated, it didn't feel earned, but instead just kind of abruptly happens. And that's strange, really, because there was more than enough time to demonstrate the growth, especially because the movie's an hour and 43 minutes. But instead, the story focuses on areas that don't deliver laughs and then don't progress the narrative forward.

And I wanted to see the progressive change and learning in Helen. She's a character that we can root for, and even though she may be gruff at times and even a little abrasive, there are story elements that show us her heart and in turn make her relatable. And I could have used less of some of the wandering and the setups, like hanging food in the tree to keep it away from bears, and then used that five-ish minute time sequence to focus more on Helen.

And really talking about that scene with putting the food up in the tree, you would think that it was a setup for something involving a bear later on or any kind of comedy, especially because of how much time was spent on explaining how to do it. No, though, it just wasted potential and then ultimately a waste of resources for elements that are unimportant. And that's what's contained a lot in this movie.

There's so many explanations that happen relating to the hiking trip and the rules and safety precautions that you'd think the story was actually trying to get the audience ready to go on a hike. I mean, the level of detail, it could be useful, but it's not foreshadowing for a future joke or even a scene that illustrates deep knowledge. I mean, maybe the director is just a hiking enthusiast and wants to share their passion with us.

I wouldn't feel on it, though. As a casual watch with some great views of sweeping forests and countrysides, this is an easy movie to put on and have playing while you scroll on your phone. The outcomes are predictable, and while the drama outweighs any comedy, the characters have some sweetness to them and the story is a no risk, low stakes narrative that takes you exactly where you think it's going to go.

And sometimes that's not too bad of a thing. I really like Ellie Kemper in this. I'm most familiar with her more high energy character from The Office and then her role as Kimmy Schmidt.

So it was nice to see a more grounded and reserved portrayal. She has okay chemistry with Luke Grimes, and they're cute enough together to make it fun. So overall, if you're looking for new, unique, or even funny and highly romantic, Happiness for Beginners isn't going to meet that need.

If, though, you're just in the mood for a light romantic drama that can play as background, this is just fine. The characters get enough development to understand them, but not enough to fully care. And the story provides a lot of potential setups for comedy or action and inexplicably doesn't deliver on any of them.

While it's not a terrible movie, it's also not memorable and is actually pretty forgettable. There's no need to rush to watch, but if you need something to kill the silence or even some time, you may want to put it on. There's no sex or nudity, some profanity, not really any violence.

I give Happiness for Beginners five on a scale of one to ten.

Images from IMDb