Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Happiness for Beginners’ on Netflix, A Camping Comedy That Should Take a Hike

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,” wrote poet Robert Frost once. In the new Netflix original Happiness for Beginners, it’s one of the three. Hint: this is a light rom-com … and it has the word “happiness” in its title.

HAPPINESS FOR BEGINNERS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Helen (Ellie Kemper) is doing great, and she will gladly tell you just how great she is doing. Whether she’s convincing is another story entirely. She insists things are fine a year after the dissolution of her marriage, which was rocked by infidelity and a miscarriage. As a sign of just how much she’s good, she still entertains texts from her ex!

But that all changes when this Pittsburgh-based teacher decides to embark on a hike of the Appalachian Mountains – at least, the parts that run through the tri-state area – to “stop breaking promises” to herself. Along with an eccentric, eclectic crew, she’s on a journey to discover herself in nature. There’s only one hitch: her brother’s best friend, the doctor Jake (Luke Grimes), has also booked himself on the same hike. So much for escaping her past, although when some unexpected sparks fly between them, there might be hope for a future.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: The Reese Witherspoon-starrer Wild with all the rough edges sanded down.

Performance Worth Watching: While it’s far from the fizzy fun of her starring role in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Ellie Kemper is always a delightful presence on screen. She has such an earnestness that’s delightful and disarming even when she’s working with a less than

Memorable Dialogue: “I’m strong so I don’t really notice pain,” Helen says in defiance of her blisters, a perfect summation of the on-the-nose false diagnoses of her own willpower.

Sex and Skin: About as chaste as they come.

Our Take: Vicky Wright’s adaptation of Katherine Clark’s novel of the same name never wants to burden its viewers. That inclination leads Happiness for Beginners to steer so far away from anything other than the titular emotion that it feels frustratingly light to the touch. It’s pleasant to the point of fault. Kemper tries her best to give the film some gravity, but her perky charms mix with Grimes’ grounded approach like oil and water. It doesn’t help that they speak exactly what’s on their mind at all times as if subtext simply doesn’t exist.

Further, all the attempts at comic relief from their fellow hikers also fall flat because there’s no chemistry or cohesion within the group. Everyone feels like they’re acting in isolation, anticipating when they can next try to steal the scene. Countless rom-coms end up in the same expected destination, but unlike the better entries in the genre, this one doesn’t take any unexpected turns in the journey. This is saying something given that this is a movie involving hiking.

Our Call: SKIP IT. Happiness for Beginners captures all the breeziness of a beach read. Whether you interpret that more as pejorative or praise may depend on your own predispositions. But even judging by the trifling standards of an easy watch, we should expect something that isn’t quite so color-by-numbers.

Marshall Shaffer is a New York-based freelance film journalist. In addition to Decider, his work has also appeared on Slashfilm, Slant, The Playlist and many other outlets. Some day soon, everyone will realize how right he is about Spring Breakers.