"That's a nice-a donut."

Friday, October 28, 2005

I (Heart) Huckabees (2004)

I (Heart) Huckabees is a very strange and unusual dark comedy that dares delve into the heavy realm of philosophy and the meaning of things. Director David O. Russell (his resume includes the indy hit Spanking the Monkey and one of the few movies on the Gulf War, Three Kings) tries to follow in the footsteps of such smart, but wacky, comedies as Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman's Being John Malkovich.

Albert (Jason Schwartzman), a conservationist who heads a coalition to preserve open spaces, has run into the same stick-thin seven-foot tall man three times recently. He is determined to find out if this is a meaningless coincidence or if there is a deeper meaning behind the appearances, so he consults a pair of existential detectives. The quirky husband and wife team of Vivian (Lily Tomlin) and Bernard Jaffe (Dustin Hoffman) have a myriad of unusual investigative methods, but their main focus is on following Albert and observing everything that he does. Meanwhile, Brad (Jude Law) is an executive at Huckabees, a Wal-Mart / Target type of superstore, who manages to schmooze his way onto the open spaces group. Enter: Tommy (Mark Wahlberg) a green, idealistic Socialist firefighter who is also a client of the Jaffes' and is deemed to be Albert's "other." While Albert is fighting with Brad over Huckabees and open spaces, he and Tommy ditch the existential detectives and start talking with a French woman who has a different view on things. It's a mishmash adventure, and we wonder if anything will be solved or if Albert will find out what he needs to know.

There are several funny moments in the film. Like Tommy riding his bike to a fire, as the rest of his fellow firefighters take the traditional way of the truck, and he ends up getting there first. And there are lifesize cutouts throughout the Huckabees offices, including Pete Sampras and the omnipresent Shania Twain. There's no reason for them; it's just ridiculous. Hoffman's Bernard is funny more for his unkempt hairstyle than anything else, but he seems to be having a good time and is fun to watch. The Jaffes have no humility, and do not appear to be embarrassed or hesitant about anything.

But whenever Huckabees got going into a groove and I started to settle in and enjoy it (which was several times), it looses focus and becomes a rambling mess. Perhaps this was even intentional. Nevertheless, the French woman throws the story off-kilter for good, and it never really recovers. Have I mentioned that Naomi Watts is also in this? She is, as a girlfriend of Brad's who also works for Huckabees. As with many things in the movie though, her role is unclear and pointless. She seems to be used solely to improve the big star quotient.

One technique Russell uses several times is to have Albert envision things, or other characters, as sort of many parts to a greater puzzle. It's like a higher-level pseudo-intellectual take on philosophy that is so far removed from anything intelligible, that it must be hip, right? In rather trippy fashion we see, for example, someone's mouth and eyes decomposed into an array of small squares, in very cartoon-like fashion. It's hard to explain or envision, but then so is much of the film. In the end, Huckabees is to be commended for being rather original and vaguely inspired, but it is hair-pulling in its aloofness and ultimate lack of focus. I've never seen philosophy be so shallow before. This is oddity and eccentricity just for the sake of it. It's destined to be a love-it or hate-it cult classic.

The Verdict: C-.

Michael Bentley 4:48 PM

"That's a nice-a donut."

Friday, October 28, 2005

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