Movie: I Heart Huckabees
Starring Jason Schwartzman, Jude Law, Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin
Directed By David O. Russel
Written By Jeff Baena (Fox Searchlight)
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes

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I Heart Huckabees is my kind of comedy, offering a challenging kind of absurdity that creates as many thoughts as it does belly laughs. Albert Markovski (Schwartzman) is an activist trying to save a patch of woods from development. To do so he forms an alliance with PR Man, Brad (Jude Law), who is seeking only to score points for his own advancement. But suddenly Albert starts seeing strange coincidences in his life so he goes to a pair of "existential detectives" to figure things out.

Their analysis of the coincidences consists of strangely plausible pychobabble from E-Detective Bernard (Dustin Hoffman), who zips him into a sensory deprivation bag that somehow helps him get a handle on his life. Or does it really? Maybe the competing E-Detective from France (Huppert) has it figured better.

My synopsis doesn't do the plot justice. Director David O. Russel (Tree Kings, Flirting With Disaster) is mixing in so many characters including a disjointed fireman (Mark Wahlberg) and a Huckabees spokesmodel (Naomi Watts) that's hard to boil down to a few lines. It's like he's trying to cook up Woody Allen and Robert Altman while adding in his own special sauce. Certainly it attracted a top drawer cast that doesn't mind a gourmet treat.

There's a lot going on here and it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but Huckabees has a lot to offer for those interested in some of life's larger questions.

The Skinny:
Did I enjoy the movie? I hearted it a lot.
Would I go to see it again? I'll definitely see it on DVD just to see if there's something really there.

© 2004 - Rusty Pipes