I Heart Huckabees (2004)
If I tell you that "I Heart Huckabees"
is an "existential comedy," that's probably going
to sound not only impossible but also very dry and
cerebral and artsy-fartsy. But clever writer/director
David O. Russell has found a way to externalize existentialism
and make it not only funny but interesting and engrossing.
While the film is intelligent, witty and wordy, it
is also farcical, often bordering on slapstick, and
often laugh-out-loud funny.
Russell cleverly contrives a plot
here that deals with existentialism, the pondering
of the meaning of life, by creating characters that
are overly concerned with that question and introducing
the most amazing proverbial fly-in- the-ointment to
such characters in the guise of Existential Detectives,
played wonderfully by Lilly Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman.
This is quite possibly the most wonderful story driven
contrivance ever conceived by a screenwriter. The
"detectives" fuel the story and propel all the action
here. It is this conveyance that allows "Huckabees"
to be intellectual yet tangible and easy to understand.
No doubt his characters are wonderful
throughout the film. Jason Schwartzman excels as the
nervous, fumbling Albert, a character whose inability
to comprehend the mechanisms of societal order disillusion
him. Then there's Mark Wahlberg as a firefighter whose
obsession with the prevalence of a oil- based society
and economy nearly cripple him mentally and emotionally
and eventually cause him to lose his wife and child.
On the other end of the spectrum, there's Jude Law
as the callous and charming Brad who works for the
titular department store chain, Huckabees, and hijacks
Albert's "Save the Wetlands" group with his good looks
and people skills. And then there's Naomi Watts as
Huckabees' beautiful commercial spokesperson who,
once introduced to the Existential Detectives, begins
to undergo a crisis of conscience. And that's just
the beginning.
Witty, clever, hilarious, contemplative,
imaginative and unique, "I Heart Huckabees" is everything
one would hope a comedy about existentialism would
be. This just might be the best script of the year
and when it's enacted by these talented thespians,
it just can't miss. With it, Russell remains one of
our most interesting and promising new American filmmakers.
Note:
Also with Isabelle Huppert, Tippe
Hedron, Jean Smart, Talia Shire (Schwartzman's real
life mom playing his character's mother her), and
Shania Twain (as herself).
At times in print the symbol of
a heart has been used in place of the actual word
"Heart" in the title. This has also lead the film
to be referred to as "I Love Huckabees" since the
heart symbol is often translated as "love" in some
instances. At various times, the company in the films
title has also been written in the possessive, "Huckabee's"
as well.
Watts was the original choice to
play Dawn but the role went to Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicolle
Kidman and Jennifer Aniston, who all had to drop out
for various reasons before it reverted to Watts.
Hoffman and Tomlin have never starred
in a movie together although at one time they were
slated to play "Popeye" and "Olive Oyl" in the Robert
Altman 80's flick.
Viewed in Austin in October 2004
at the Dobie Theater with Johnny Oh!
