Other Titles • I Heart Huckabees (2004) • I Love Huckabee's • I Love Huckabees
Synopses for I Heart Huckabees (2004)
1.
Billed as "an existential comedy," I Heart Huckabees is a flawed yet endearingly audacious screwball romp that dares to ponder life's biggest questions. Much of director David O. Russell's philosophical humor is dense, talky, and impenetrable, leading critic Roger Ebert to observe that "it leaves the viewer out of the loop," and suggesting that Russell's screenplay (written with his assistant, Jeff Baena) is admirably bold yet frustratingly undisciplined. Russell's ideas are big but his expression of them is frenetic, centering on the unlikely pairing of an environmentalist (Jason Schwartzman) and a firefighter (Mark Wahlberg) as they depend on existential detectives (Lily Tomlin, Dustin Hoffman) and a French nihilist (Isabelle Huppert) to make sense of their existential crises, brought on (respectively) by a two-faced chain-store executive (Jude Law) and his spokesmodel girlfriend (Naomi Watts), and the aftermath of 9/11's terrorism. No brief description can do justice to Russell's comedic conceit; you'll either be annoyed and mystified or elated and delighted by this wacky primer for coping with 21st century lunacy. Deserving of its mixed reviews, I Heart Huckabees is an audacious mess, like life itself, and accepting that is the key to enjoying both. --Jeff Shannon
DVD features The single-disc edition of I Heart Huckabees has two commentary tracks: the first is writer-director David O. Russell on his own, providing a more low-key assessment of the film and the Buddhist philosophical endeavors that inspired it; he's not the raving lunatic that Sharon Waxman's scathing 2004 profile in The New York Times would lead you to believe. The second commentary, with Russell and his primary cast, is much more of a party-like romp, strictly optional but entertaining for anyone curious about anecdotes from a production that was apparently a lot of fun. Devoted fans might prefer the abundance of bonus features on the two-disc special edition. --Jeff Shannon
2.
Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman), head of the Open Spaces Coalition, has been experiencing an alarming series of coincidences the meaning of which escapes him. With the help of two Existential Detectives, Bernard and Vivian Jaffe (Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin), Albert examines his life, his relationships, and his conflict with Brad Stand (Jude Law), an executive climbing the corporate ladder at Huckabees, a popular chain of retail superstores. When Brad also hires the detectives, they dig deep into his seemingly perfect life and his relationship with his spokesmodel girlfriend, the voice of Huckabees, Dawn Campbell (Naomi Watts). Albert pairs up with rebel firefighter Tommy Corn (Mark Wahlberg) to take matters into their own hands under the guidance of the Jaffes’ nemesis, the French radical Caterine Vauban (Isabelle Huppert).
This existential comedy is directed and co-written by David O. Russell, whose first film, SPANKING THE MONKEY, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Sundance Audience Award in 1994. It also was named Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay at the Independent Spirit Awards. His second film was the acclaimed comedy, FLIRTING WITH DIASTER. Russell’s THREE KINGS came out in 1999 and appeared in over 100 critic’s top ten lists and won the Boston Film Critic’s Association’s Best Film of the Year. The film marks co-writer Jeff Baena’s first feature film screenplay put into production.
I e HUCKABEES features an ensemble cast that includes two-time Academy Award®-winner Dustin Hoffman (RAIN MAN, KRAMER VS. KRAMER), Isabelle Huppert (LA DENTELLIÈRE, 8 FEMMES), Oscar® nominee Jude Law (THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, ROAD TO PERDITION), Jason Schwartzman (RUSHMORE, SPUN), Oscar nominee Lily Tomlin (NASHVILLE, SHORT CUTS), Mark Wahlberg (THE ITALIAN JOB, THREE KINGS) and Naomi Watts (THE RING, MULHOLLAND DRIVE).
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