I Heart Huckabees
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Movie Reviews of I Heart Huckabees
Movie Review: I Heart This Movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
What do an environmentalist, a firefighter and a chain-store executive have in common? Quite a bit according to this joy of a film. David O. Russell and Jeff Baena have written a highly intelligent comedy about a man who's trying to make sense of his life. That man is Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman), a founder of a group called the Open Space Coalition who are trying to preserve forest and marsh area's where big business want to tear it down. In his latest attempt he's joined forces with a chain-store known as Huckabees whose exec on the way up Brad Stand (Jude Law) seems to have a hidden agenda. All this aside, Albert is troubled by a very tall African teenager that has crossed his path on three occasions and he is convinced this coincidence has substantial meaning in his life, so he seeks out the help of Vivian & Bernard Jaffe (Tomlin and Hoffman), two existential detectives, hiring them to follow his every move to decipher how his life makes sense.
Vivian and Bernard are also helping Tommy (Mark Whalberg), a firefighter with strong views on humanity's role in destroying the environment. When Brad finds out about Albert's association with these detectives he sees this as a way to get at Albert, to diminish his credibility with Open Spaces and thus gain control of the land and marsh Huckabees wishes to tear down. So he himself enlists the help of Vivian and Bernard in order to jab at Albert's sanity, and this affects his girlfriend Dawn (Naomi Watts in another brilliant performance) who begins to take these detectives advise seriously and this jeopardizes her relationship with Brad and with Huckabees since she is `the voice' and `the look' of the store.
When Tommy and Albert meet they decide to ditch Vivian and Bernard's methods in pursuit of Caterine Vauben (Isabelle Huppert), a French existential detective who is in competition with the Jaffes. Their methods, while similar, are actually at two separate extremes and throughout the film Albert finds the balance he needs to make sense of it all. This film is pure joy, hilarious from start to finish thanks in part to the brilliant acting on the entire cast, Tomlin and Law are standouts to me for their comedic timing is impeccable, and Whalberg is a complete surprise, holding his own and proving he can act. I haven't seen a film this smart in quite some time, and another probably won't come along for too long either so lap this up like a puppy and enjoy every last gulp!
Movie Review: A Film To Make You Laugh & Think At The Same Time
Summary: 5 Stars
MOVIE: Ever feel like you were a meaningless speck of dirt that had no meaning? Ever wonder what the purpose of life is? This movie is basically about that. What makes it so genius is how absurdly normal the plot is. Albert Morkovski is a striving poet and environmentalist who comes to the Existential Detectives (Dustin Hoffman & Lily Tomlin) to help him explain a coincidence he has had with a tall African man. Instead these "detectives" go deep into his life trying to make sense of it all, and at first it makes no sense to the audience. Albert started a coalition to save a nearby marsh from being devolped on. Brad (Jude Law) is the executive salesperson at Huckabees, a large retail store, and he is sponsoring Albert's coalition but ends up taking over it. Albert ends up meeting the very open and free spirit that is Tommy (Mark Wahlberg). The whole movie is about trying to answer the questions that apparently nobody has the answer to, and in doing so the audience gets funny results. This is the most enjoyable comedy of the year, one of the best. Garden State was another favorite of mine but that had a very heavy dramatic aspect to it. This movie has a very light tone, and at points is laugh out loud hilarious. There are no jokes, no physical comedy, because what makes it funny is just these free spirit people trying to find who they really are and what their purposes are. No doubt about it, the movie will confuse you at times, and make you contemplate on human existance. But in the end you will be able to reflect back on it and be able to make more sense of it than you did while watching it. I personally would like to see it again because it's just that type of movie. What a great little exploration into the complexities of humans and the way we think.
ACTING: My favorite in this movie was Mark Wahlberg. He was the funniest guy here, and he played the role so convincingly. Dustin Hoffman was another great stand-out. The rest of the cast were brilliant as well, and they were able to take this golden script and deliver it so amazingly. I wouldn't be surprised to see an Oscar nomination for acting within this movie.
BOTTOM LINE: One of the greatest surprises of the year. So strange and bizarre that it actually makes sense. You will laugh at this movie because you will see yourself in this movie. You will either connect with Albert or Brad. So quirky, so absurd, so insightful that you'll want to see it again.
Movie Review: I Heart This Movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
"Will likely divide audiences between those who find its deliberately abstruse discombobulation amusing & to the point, and those who find it just abstruse & discombobulated."-- Rob Blackwelder, SPLICEDWIRE (from www.rottentomatoes.com)
This reviewer says it all - if you love eccentric, absurdist comedies a la Charlie Kaufman (Human Nature, Eternal Sunshine) and enjoy the quirky, affectionate comedy of Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket, Tenenbaums), you will LOVE this movie! If, on the other hand, you prefer a good Vin Diesel action flick or a romantic comedy, don't even think about it. Finally, a movie that keeps up with my mind... a perfect concoction of pathos, humour and intellectual discourse all wrapped up in one. The film keeps you so humorously entertained that you don't notice all the existential discourse that's trickling down your throat. Not surprising from the writer/director of the hilariously goofy and smart "Flirting with Disaster". Some viewers found the overtalking distancing, I thought it was razor-sharp and oddly effortless in its artificiality. And it's funny as hell. Self-examination has never been so painless! Not as emotionally affecting or profound as it could have been, but more spiritual and heartfelt than any philosophy movie has a right to be (not just inane, heady banter). Take it from an ex-philosophy student who spent years debating the existence of "somethingness" vs. "nothingness" (as in the film)! Although purists be forewarned - this is philosophy for the masses.
It takes actors this good to make such a rollicking, almost non-coherent plot into a such a riveting piece of entertainment... Jude Law's performance is phenomenally unrecognizable, as is Mark Wahlberg in a stunning thespian tour-de-force (who knew he could act?), and old reliables like Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin prove they are anything but stale. If you call yourself a pseudo- (or better yet, post-) intellectual who doesn't heart Hollywood's recycled premises, this one's for you!
They just don't make enough of these movies for us brain-starved ex-intellectuals... <sigh>
Movie Review: Test Whether You'll Love or Hate this Love It or Hate It Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
"I Heart Huckabees" is the ultimate love it / hate it movie. Few will say, "I could either go see 'I Heart Huckabees' or whatever else is playing at the multiplex."
Me? I loved "I Heart Huckabees." I loved it so much I can't even review it. I loved every performance, every line of dialogue; I loved it so much I want to form a club with others who loved this movie ... Normally, I can't stand Jason Schwartzman, and even he didn't ruin it for me.
How can you tell which camp you'll fall into? Here's a test. Agree or Disagree with the following statements:
1.) My friends and family tell me I think too much, and that my life would be much easier if I would just relax and not rock the boat.
2.) I've tried meditation, but gotten sidetracked when I found myself imagining taking a machete to people who annoy me.
3.) I could pick Franz Kafka out of a line-up that included Jean Paul Satre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Buster Keaton.
4.) The thought of sex with a nihilist leaves me contemplating nothingness, and yet strangely aroused.
5.) I've always wanted to see Marky Mark bicycle in fireman's knee-high rubber boots, while protesting the world petroleum crisis.
6.) I once lost a girlfriend / boyfriend to someone who was cover-model pretty / handsome, but had no soul, and that, yet again, caused me to think too much, and then to meditate, and then to imagine the whole machete thing.
7.) I think that the objectification of women is shallow and obscene, and Amish bonnets turn me on.
8.) Dustin Hoffman does a faux friendly, "I've got your nuts in my cracker" smile better and better as he ages.
9.) Lily Tomlin is reason enough to see any movie.
10.) Cruely, Manipulation, Meaninglessness.
Give yourself as many points as you want for each "yes" answer, and then give yourself an equal number of points for each "no" answer. Cause, you know? It's all one.
Movie Review: Buddhism at the Mall - the "real" EVERYTHING store of your desires
Summary: 5 Stars
This has become one of my favorite movies of late. Will I always love it? Not sure, but for now its the sort of film that I can watch and watch again. Many other reviewers have noted that much of the interest of the film is intellectual, in fact that the comedy, however sophmoric from one perspective, depends upon an intelectual underpinning that is probably not shared by most viewers. And I agree. Trust me, there is much more than the surface farce going on here. I would note that many of the other reviewers seem over focused on Existentialism as a philosophical school. I think this is taking the notion of "existential detective" too narrowly. In fact, the greatest philosophical influence in the film seems to me to be Buddhism, which the director has a long involvement with. I once recommended the film to a fellow teacher as a textbook intro to Zen. The on-going tension between the affirmative vision of totality and the nihilistic vision captures a Zen motif, as does the "sudden enlgihtenment" of the balloon scene. I could go one in great detail. Nor do I think that the film is simply making fun of intellectuals or philosophical seekers; it is far more subtle than that. Suffice it to say that for me the film is powerfully moving, even uplifting, at the same time that it acknowledges the "manure of human existance". I doubt that the real difference between those who "get it" and those who hate it is intellectual per se ( a number of "students of philosophy" posting here hated the film). Its more a matter of one's sense of life, one's attitude towards it: a passion for the depths, for complex thought, and at the same time a joy in the simple, including the simple truth of one's own limitations. Not a film for those too serious to see their own absurdity, nor for those uninterested in taking the time to look beyond the absurd to the serious.