I Heart Huckabees

There is only one word I can use to describe this "existensial comedy" by David O. Russell: insane. Here is a comedy with no real rules. A sense of brilliant madness lurks within every scene. Emotions run wild, actions are poorly motivated, people have no idea just what the hell they are doing! This is to be said about certain characters played by Jason Schwartzman, Jude Law, Mark Wahlberg, and Naomi Watts. These are characters who are in deep need of answers to their existence, and who are playing with ideas that they are not quite ready to tackle. But then you have Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, and Isabelle Huppert just kind of watching by the sidelines as the more experienced characters. By the end of the movie I couldn't help but think of how many other clients of theirs went through similar conflicts. That's the ultimate punchline. What a delight I Heart Huckabees is!

This is in no way at all your average comedy. Many philosophical theories are brought up throughout the film, but it's all done in a "fun" way. The film doesn't follow and preach any of the theories, only its characters do. I thought that was important because, well, that's what makes it so funny. It does not take itself seriously.

The acting is very...interesting. You have the younger actors like Wahlberg and Schwartzman really, really trying hard in hilariously over-the-top performances. To the exact opposite of that, you have Hoffman and Tomlin who don't even really try that hard at all. They don't have to. They're pros- actor wise and character wise. This imbalance in mood just adds and adds to the overflowing madness of I Heart Huckabees.

There is a lot of things wrong with the movie that seem to make it funnier and all the more enjoyable to watch. I had a smile on my face through the whole thing. I Heart Huckabees is indeed an acquired taste. People will love it, people will hate it, people will be totally indifferent to it, but I have no doubt that it will find its following.

My rating: 8/10

One of the biggest influences for the ideas presented in David O. Russell's 'I Heart Huckabees' was 9/11. He is quoted as saying in Film Comment Magazine, 'For about two months after 9/11, people were asking really profound questions about reality and existence-and then it was back to business as usual.' Indeed this seems to be the case whenever bad things seem to happen in life as people search for the reasoning behind the events and for a meaning to their own existence. Disillusionment often takes place for many affected by tragedy, as has happened to the characters in 'I Heart Huckabees.' From an activist fighting urban sprawl to a firefighter blaming the worlds ills on petroleum hungry nations, 'I Heart Huckabees' presents profound questions about existence with a unique comic approach.

After seeking the reasoning behind a coincidental meeting, Albert (Jason Schwartzman), an activist/poet, seeks the help of some existential detectives, Bernard and Vivian (Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin). They agree to study his case by spying on his every day activity and getting into his psyche. In an attempt to help Albert seek answers to his profound questions, Bernard and Vivian join Albert with a disillusioned firefighter named Tommy (Mark Whalberg) who seeks answers to the same questions on life. However, Tommy has a strong bias that all the world's problems result from the exploitation of petroleum. During their investigation into Albert's life, Bernard and Vivian realize that Albert's problems often stem from his struggle to fight the Huckabees Corporation from building on the lands Albert tries in vain to protect- particularly with a corporate salesman named Brad (Jude Law). As Bernard and Vivian further investigate, they realize that Brad and his girlfriend Dawn (Naomi Watts), the sexy image behind Huckabees advertising, have a few of their own existential problems to deal with. Especially Dawn who is completely disillusioned by her own beautiful image, as well as Brad's phony persona. Two schools of thought come into play. One, Bernard and Vivian's viewpoint that everything is connected and the world is not a negative place, but chooses not to deal with its problems. On the other hand, Tommy believes in the viewpoints of a French author named Caterine Vauban (Isabell Huppert) who says that the world is simply a mess, pain and anger are present and the only way to deal with it is to just except it. So who is right and who is wrong? The film's message is that neither is truly wrong or right, but the two must meet somewhere in the middle. What's more, perceptions have an important role in this film. Life is often what you make it. A person can be a phony individual and simply jump on the bandwagon of what is popular to seek approval and acceptance. Or, they could ask themselves if they really believe in certain viewpoints and question the right and wrong that exists in our complex, modern world.

At first glance, with the film's slapstick, yet witty intellectual dialogue combined with unique visuals, it would seem that this is the product of Charlie Kaufman. But Russell's ideas are undeniably his own and have been pondered upon in his mind for years. The director of the Gulf-War drama/comedy, 'Three Kings,' and 'Flirting with Disaster' has made one of 2004s best films. 'I Heart Huckabees' is filled with three-dimensional characters and crisp-sounding dialogue that will leave you chuckling hours after seeing the film. Most importantly, it has ideas that most Hollywood executives fear to take on because of our very conventional societal viewpoints. ****

Giving credence to the phrase "everything old is new again." I HEART HUCKABEES is a pleasing throwback to the 1960's. Not unlike Mike Myers's pop-edelic Austin Powers sagas, HUCKABEES is as much a taste of nostalgia as it is a pleasurable respite from the blood-soaked Quentin Tarantino legacy of the 1990's (which fittingly enough is little more than a dirtied up version of the tough-guy B-movies of the 1950's).

At any rate, HUCKABEES is a clear descendant of films like MORGAN!, LORD LOVE A DUCK, YOU'RE A BIG BOY NOW, HAROLD AND MAUDE, not to mention THE GRADUATE and a variety of other films that feature disillusioned young men trying to find meaning to life and purpose in existence in a world of absurdity. Not surprisingly, I suppose, once again America is in a troubled war, political protest is almost tiresomely routine and society is defined by extreme political, social and ethical differences. At a time when we are bombarded from an untold number of sources about how we should talk, think and act (left-wing politically correct conformity strangely mirroring the right-wing cold war conformity of the 1950's), HUCKABEES turns to a radically old-fashioned concept: Go figure it out for yourself.

In a press release for HUCKABEES, director David O. Russell writes "Philosophy interests me only insofar as it is practical and makes people feel more alive and open -- not closed." As such HUCKABEES doesn't seem so much aimed at presenting Russell's personal philosophy so much as musing over some of the possibilities. The film revolves around Albert Markovski (played by Jason Schwartzman, as sort of Russell's surrogate), a not-particularly-successful environmentalist. Albert has a rivalry with/ friendship to /hatred of /crush on Brad Strand (Jude Law), a corporate cog who works for Huckabees, a Wal-Mart-like chain wanting to place a new store on a plot of landscape that Albert is doing a rather poor job of protecting. For different reasons, they both turn to "existential detectives" Bernard and Vivian Jaffe, (Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin), who presumably investigate/stalk their clients to figure out what makes them tick. Basically, Bernard and Vivian are a conscience for hire. Hot on Bernard and Vivian's heels is Caterine Vauban (Isabell Huppert), an ex-pupil turned rival, who is bent on spreading the word that life is meaningless and valueless.

In battling for Albert's psyche, if not his soul, the two factions offer conflicting views of the world. Bernard argues that life is a blanket, one interconnecting fabric of existence where all things are related. Caterine offers a world of random chaos where values are arbitrary. Being versus nothingness. Responsibility versus indifference. Hope versus despair. Light versus dark. Good versus evil.

As philosophy, it is probably pretty simplistic, but philosophy isn't the point so much as the absurdity of life which makes it so difficult to keep one's bearings. If Albert (and Russell) never quite cut through the chaos and ultimately only find peace through compromise, that is probably the best anyone can really hope for. But like any movie (or mystery or therapy) the ending is possibly not necessarily as important as the journey getting there. Which is a good thing for HUCKABEES because the film gradually peters out, but it is an unpredictable ride, shared with oddball characters, while it lasts.

And it is something of a sentimental journey. I doubt it is entirely a coincidence that Schartzman bears more than a passing resemblance to a youthful Hoffman (in a Beatles' haircut, no less), whose performance in THE GRADUATE will forever grant him iconic status as a symbol of the 1960's. HUCKABEES echoes many of the themes from that 1968 landmark film: the questioning of prevailing values, battling consumerism, searching for identity and, last but not least, seduction by an older woman.

Though not entirely successful, there is something just so wonderfully refreshing about I HEART HUCKABEES. It is a film that tries to be about ideas, without being self-consciously pretentious, like Woody Allen. It flirts with the sweetness of a Spielberg film, but in the humanistic style of a Robert Altman, but without his souring streak of cynicism. But most of all it stays miles away from the cold-blooded nihilism of Scorsese, Tarantino and the bunch. This is a film without villains, only comrades who, to one degree or another, are searching for peace of mind.

A series of coincidences bring environmental campaigner Albert Markovski to the existential detective agency of Bernard and Vivian, who he contracts to delve into his life. Looking at his work situation they find him in contest with Huckabees' corporate marketing man Brad Stand, who has hijacked Albert's Open Spaces campaign to get free publicity for the store. Meanwhile Bernard and Vivian's other client Tommy Corn, is struggling to stick to their ideas and is swayed by the teachings of Caterine Vauban. With everyone having their lives broken down and examined, the investigation continues.

I wasn't sure what to make of this film before I saw it and I'll be honest and say I have just as little idea when I left it. The plot is all over the place and will totally frustrate those who attempt to find something in the narrative. The ending comes and I was none the wiser and would have struggled to really talk about the meaning in the film even right after it ended. Of course to me this wasn't that important because I think the film wasn't out to be a deep spiritual affair that would touch your soul in a deep way. I say this because the film seemed to mock the characters at the same time as allowing them to be interesting and involving. It is a strange effect and I don't think I'm doing it justice but it worked for me.

For many viewers the plot will be annoying because it is more about the people rather than a set story; however for many others (me included) it will work as a wonderfully witty little story that is enjoyable to watch – enjoyable to the point that I was able to forgive it so much. The comic tone is so well delivered and the script is so consistently original and clever that it is hard not to like it. I am finding it hard to put into words but then maybe that is part of the appeal – it is impossible to pigeon hole and many will find pleasure if the sheer force of its originality. The character focus here really works because the characters are very well written – a bit over the top perhaps but, having worked in both the corporate and charitable side of environmental groups, I recognised a lot of the people in the film and liked the way the script both mocked them and liked them too.

The cast really do well with the material and it must have been a certain leap of faith to entrust such a cult script to become a good film. Schwartzman is well cast and he really suits the weird comic tone of the film. Law is better because he seems to have a character that I found easier to identify with. Wahlberg is also pretty good and I liked the force of conviction he had behind his words. Tomlin and Hoffman are both kooky rather than characters but they made it work – they may have been the heart of the film but it was wise to make the other characters the focus. Watts is really good (I shudder to think what would have happened if the Brittany rumours were true) and there are host of good little cameos from all sorts of people.

Overall this is a very strange film and it is not one I could pretend to know all about or understand. The plot is messy and really needs you to be in the mood for it but to the right viewer it can be a wonderfully fun character piece. The direction is great, with clever, imaginative touches and a score that is obvious but does suit the quirky tone of the film. An acquired taste perhaps but one that really appealed to me and one I really enjoyed as I watched it, even if I was left a little bewildered by the whole thing.

This film was amazing. I'm still not sure if I've completely figured it out, but I thoroughly enjoy the attempt. The entire trip was something fully unexpected from the barrage of F-bombs that makes up the first five minutes to the alluded to (but nonetheless unexpected) cameo of Shania Twain. It's near impossible to explain what the film is actually about in this space, so you'll have to settle for this: The always hilarious Lily Tomlin and the wonderful Dustin Hoffman play a couple of "existential detectives" hired by Jason Schwartzman (in perhaps his best role) to investigate a series of "coincidences" involved a very tall African man. Schwartzman is the head of an environmentalist group trying to make a deal with the Huckabees department store to save a marsh (Jude Law plays the Huckabees exec and Naomi Watts his wife--a Huckabees commercial model). Mark Wahlberg shows one of his best performances thus far as a fireman who has also hired the "existential duo" for help with the Big Questions. Jon Brion provides yet another truly original score (not as eccentric and beautiful as Eternal Sunshine, but definitely more involved than Punch Drunk Love). In short, this film is a masterpiece for everyone involved.