Simon Pegg has had an intriguing career. He's been highly praised for his terrific collaborative projects with Edgar Wright, from the British TV series Spaced to the Cornetto Trilogy of twisted English comedies: Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World's End. He's also managed to crack Hollywood with recurring roles in big franchises like Mission: Impossible, Ice Age and JJ Abrams' Star Trek.

Hector and the Search for HappinessHector and the Search for Happiness

But his more adventurous projects back home in Britain have struggled to find audiences or critical approval. While How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008) had mixed reviews, Burke and Hare (2010) was called a misfire by both critics and audiences. And then there was 2012's A Fantastic Fear of Everything, which has just a 33% positive rating from critics and an only slightly less terrible 37% from the public.

More: read our review of Hector and the Search for Happiness

And now we have this week's Hector and the Search for Happiness, directed by Peter Chelsom (Hannah Montana: The Movie). Critics have been remarkably nasty about it. The Guardian noted that "Pegg's smuggery knows no bounds", while The Telegraphed pointed out the film's "lobotomised worldview and charred, corroded soul".

Fortunately Pegg is never far from his next success. Will it be the upcoming animated movie The Boxtrolls? The British rom-com Man Up looks promising (it costars Lake Bell and Olivia Williams), as do the Aussie thriller Kill Me Three Times (alongside Sullivan Stapleton and Luke Hemsworth) and the Monty Python reunion romp Absolutely Everything. And if those don't work out, the next Star Trek and Mission: Impossible movies are already in the works.

Watch the trailer for Hector and the Search for Happiness here