I suppose the most alluring thing of this film is the title: 'I Heart Huckabees'. It really gets you thinking: What the hell is a Huckabees? A person? With a cute little red love heart and several strange expressive faces on the front of the DVD, why wouldn't you pick it up in intrigue? You notice it has Naomi Watts in it - as in, 'Mulholland Dr.', '21 Grams' Naomi Watts - Queen of Modern Drama, and you look around you in the video store. Are you certain you picked it up in the comedy section?
Thus starts the journey of 'I Heart Huckabees'.
The film follows Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman) in his journey for enlightenment on a series of encounters with a tall Sudanese boy. He approaches existential detectives Bernard and Vivian, a husband and wife team, who teach him their philosophy of enlightenment and try to connect his coincidences to get their deeper significance.
In the process, several people linked to Albert become involved and end up on the client roster of Bernard and Vivian. Albert is then convinced by his 'other' (a friend who is going through the same turmoil as you, a 'buddy' of sorts) to try a different philosophy, which teaches the opposite, devised by Caterine Vauban (Isabelle Huppert).
This film is determined to be life-changingly philosophical, which it states unashamedly - "this is a story that will give a hilarious new meaning to your life!" - featuring detectives who investigate seemingly random, or seemingly related coincidences in anyone's life. It's a battle of philosophies - one dark and the other not dark enough.
Philosophy One: Practised by Bernard and Vivian (Dustin Hoffman & Lily Tomlin).
* Everything is connected (no coincidences are random)
* The blanket is the universe
* The tree (a coping technique to bring happiness and peace to the individual)
Philosophy Two: Practised by Caterine Vauban.
* Nothing is connected (coincidences are random)
* Everything is meaningless
* The ball (another coping technique) is temporary relief to escape the inevitability of human drama
Now, to answer your question, what the hell is Huckabees? Well, Huckabees is a department store, much like Wal-Mart or Target, with the tag-line, "The Everything Store".
Naomi Watts plays Dawn Campell, who is the spokesperson for Huckabees, in other words: she prances around in a bikini yelling bargain prices to a camera in advertisements for Huckabees. Watts shows comedic flair in this role, as the ditzy blonde who realises life has more meaning, and therefore she can wear a bonnet if she wants to!
Albert is the leader of an environmental group, with an artistic flair for writing riveting poems ("You rock, rock! The rock just sits and is.") who is trying to make a deal with Huckabees to save the marsh.
Brad (Jude Law) is a hate-able executive who manipulates the existential detectives' investigative process to make Albert look bad, and realises karma is a formidable thing.
Mark Wahlberg does as admirable job as Albert's 'other', Tommy, who introduces him to the philosophy of meaninglessness.
Mark Wahlberg and Jude Law sometimes try a little too hard to be funny (though, I admit, Jude Law is usually charming).
The trio of philosophers (Bernard, Vivian & Caterine) who started this whole charade all posses an annoying superiority which is reflective of their character's attitudes. They are fascinating to watch, as they spurt philosophies ("My infinite nature!") on the miracle/curse of human existence.
What you get from this complicated plot is a slightly pretentious, occasionally funny, a-bit-too-deliberately quirky, but well-acted film, which exists, not to change your life as it states, but to make you laugh at how we philosophise over our existence when we can't very well change our circumstances.
I am really torn on how to rate this film. It layers on the philosophy aspect real thick and revels in its own cleverness in a way that irritates me, but it also has some genuinely funny moments, usually provided by Jason Schwartzman and Naomi Watts. I think a six is fair - 5 for being a well-made film, and 1 extra for the genuinely funny moments.
I think if there is one major thing missing from this film, it's a relationship which the audience actually cares about. The lack of chemistry between some characters in romantic relationships and friendships makes the film less engaging. I only really cared for two characters - Albert (luckily, the main character) and Dawn.
The 'cleverness' of this film overshadows the feelings of those tangled up in it. But I wouldn't dare call it overrated, because it has its merits. Screenplay writers like Charlie Kaufman, who write 'clever' scripts (it's a matter of opinion), usually have well-developed characters who feel and who the audience feels for. One might argue, that being classified as comedy, this film doesn't need believable relationships to work. Personally, if I don't believe it I don't care, and if I don't care I don't laugh.
I know the comparison between Charlie Kaufman's screenplays and 'I Heart Huckabees' is pathetic, and I apologize. Kaufman suffers from moments of pretentiousness too. I think the link between Kaufman and 'I Heart Huckabees' that I made arose from the opening of this film and 'Adaptation' - the self-deprecating voice over that introduces the character.
Anyway, that extremely long comment is what I thought about 'I Heart Huckabees', now go and decide for yourself.
P.S. The score is brilliant.
Thus starts the journey of 'I Heart Huckabees'.
The film follows Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman) in his journey for enlightenment on a series of encounters with a tall Sudanese boy. He approaches existential detectives Bernard and Vivian, a husband and wife team, who teach him their philosophy of enlightenment and try to connect his coincidences to get their deeper significance.
In the process, several people linked to Albert become involved and end up on the client roster of Bernard and Vivian. Albert is then convinced by his 'other' (a friend who is going through the same turmoil as you, a 'buddy' of sorts) to try a different philosophy, which teaches the opposite, devised by Caterine Vauban (Isabelle Huppert).
This film is determined to be life-changingly philosophical, which it states unashamedly - "this is a story that will give a hilarious new meaning to your life!" - featuring detectives who investigate seemingly random, or seemingly related coincidences in anyone's life. It's a battle of philosophies - one dark and the other not dark enough.
Philosophy One: Practised by Bernard and Vivian (Dustin Hoffman & Lily Tomlin).
* Everything is connected (no coincidences are random)
* The blanket is the universe
* The tree (a coping technique to bring happiness and peace to the individual)
Philosophy Two: Practised by Caterine Vauban.
* Nothing is connected (coincidences are random)
* Everything is meaningless
* The ball (another coping technique) is temporary relief to escape the inevitability of human drama
Now, to answer your question, what the hell is Huckabees? Well, Huckabees is a department store, much like Wal-Mart or Target, with the tag-line, "The Everything Store".
Naomi Watts plays Dawn Campell, who is the spokesperson for Huckabees, in other words: she prances around in a bikini yelling bargain prices to a camera in advertisements for Huckabees. Watts shows comedic flair in this role, as the ditzy blonde who realises life has more meaning, and therefore she can wear a bonnet if she wants to!
Albert is the leader of an environmental group, with an artistic flair for writing riveting poems ("You rock, rock! The rock just sits and is.") who is trying to make a deal with Huckabees to save the marsh.
Brad (Jude Law) is a hate-able executive who manipulates the existential detectives' investigative process to make Albert look bad, and realises karma is a formidable thing.
Mark Wahlberg does as admirable job as Albert's 'other', Tommy, who introduces him to the philosophy of meaninglessness.
Mark Wahlberg and Jude Law sometimes try a little too hard to be funny (though, I admit, Jude Law is usually charming).
The trio of philosophers (Bernard, Vivian & Caterine) who started this whole charade all posses an annoying superiority which is reflective of their character's attitudes. They are fascinating to watch, as they spurt philosophies ("My infinite nature!") on the miracle/curse of human existence.
What you get from this complicated plot is a slightly pretentious, occasionally funny, a-bit-too-deliberately quirky, but well-acted film, which exists, not to change your life as it states, but to make you laugh at how we philosophise over our existence when we can't very well change our circumstances.
I am really torn on how to rate this film. It layers on the philosophy aspect real thick and revels in its own cleverness in a way that irritates me, but it also has some genuinely funny moments, usually provided by Jason Schwartzman and Naomi Watts. I think a six is fair - 5 for being a well-made film, and 1 extra for the genuinely funny moments.
I think if there is one major thing missing from this film, it's a relationship which the audience actually cares about. The lack of chemistry between some characters in romantic relationships and friendships makes the film less engaging. I only really cared for two characters - Albert (luckily, the main character) and Dawn.
The 'cleverness' of this film overshadows the feelings of those tangled up in it. But I wouldn't dare call it overrated, because it has its merits. Screenplay writers like Charlie Kaufman, who write 'clever' scripts (it's a matter of opinion), usually have well-developed characters who feel and who the audience feels for. One might argue, that being classified as comedy, this film doesn't need believable relationships to work. Personally, if I don't believe it I don't care, and if I don't care I don't laugh.
I know the comparison between Charlie Kaufman's screenplays and 'I Heart Huckabees' is pathetic, and I apologize. Kaufman suffers from moments of pretentiousness too. I think the link between Kaufman and 'I Heart Huckabees' that I made arose from the opening of this film and 'Adaptation' - the self-deprecating voice over that introduces the character.
Anyway, that extremely long comment is what I thought about 'I Heart Huckabees', now go and decide for yourself.
P.S. The score is brilliant.