I ? Huckabees

"Good"

I ? Huckabees Review


The one philosophy behind the existential screwball comedy "I ? Huckabees" (pronounce the ? as "heart") is that there is no one philosophy. A satire of spiritual gurus, self-help and other psychological gimmickry, it makes its point by being so esoteric and cerebrally akimbo that it will likely divide audiences between those who find its deliberately abstruse discombobulation amusing and to the point, and those who find it just abstruse and discombobulated.

Written and directed by David O. Russell, the observant and darkly comical wit behind the Gulf War derision "Three Kings," the ensemble storyline whirlpools around Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman), an unhinged and obsessive young environmentalist who has seen the open-space preservation group he chartered slip through his fingers and into the hands of a snake-oil-charming corporate stooge named Brad Stand (Jude Law). Brad is, in fact, an executive at Huckabees -- a slick, corporate retailer with a habit of moving into small towns and building megastores where there had once been open space.

With his failure causing him to question his whole life, Albert seeks metaphysical peace of mind from Bernard and Vivian Jaffe (Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin), a pair of unconventional, off-kilter and out-of-sync private eyes who specialize in solving the mysteries of their clients' inner turmoil. Soon they are, quite conspicuously, following Albert to work, peering through his windows, digging through his trash, and pairing him up with another lost soul as a partner in intellectual recovery -- Tommy (Mark Wahlberg), a blue-collar lug of a firefighter whose eye-opening visit inside his own head has rapidly become a slide into bemused Nihilism.

"Huckabees" begins weird (when Beatles-shagged, quaintly befuddling Hoffman explains one of his theories of spiritual interconnection, the screen breaks into surrealist fragments that float around and reconnect to illustrate his point) and gets weirder. Soon superficial Brad has hired the detectives too (with ulterior motives), and so has Brad's dingy Huckabees-spokesmodel girlfriend (Naomi Watts). Both of them get far more emotional deconstruction than they bargained for from the arrangement, just as Albert and Tommy are being seduced by the Jaffes' arch rival -- a sultry, dark-minded French philosopher played by virtuosa Isabelle Huppert.

Russell culls lightly ironic, against-type performances from his entire ingenious cast, and the Peter-Sellers-like vortex of eccentricity that seems to surround Jason Schwartzman in all his roles (think "Rushmore," "Slackers" or "Spun") is the perfect anchor for the film. But "I ? Huckabees" is most droll when you put all its pieces together and see it for what it really is: a sophisticated teardown of single-track belief systems.

The film points out how simple it is to draw the weak-minded away from self-examination, presents devout believers in several schools of thought -- including willfully rigid religious types -- and mocks them all for being blinded to the possibility that there is no philosophy that answers all life's more profound and puzzling questions.

Although "Huckabees" gets by more on its idiosyncrasy than its intelligence, those rolling with its dizzy punches and open-minded to its absurdity are in for a freaky post-Freudian fun time.



Facts and Figures

Budget: $22M

Production compaines: Qwerty Films, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Kanzeon, Scott Rudin Productions, N1 European Film Produktions GmbH & Co. KG, Huckabee's

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 3 / 5

Cast & Crew

Director:

Starring: as Albert Markovski, as Bernard, as Vivian, as Brad Stand, as Tommy Corn, as Dawn Campbell, as Caterine Vauban, Darlene Hunt as Darlene, as Marty, as Mrs. Hooten, Sydney Zarp as Cricket, as Bret, as Mrs. Silver, as Mary Jane Hutchinson, as Heather, as Mr. Silver, as Mrs. Silver, as Mrs. Silver, as Translator, as Mrs. Hooten

Also starring:

Contactmusic


Links


New Movies

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

After the thunderous reception for J.J. Abrams' Episode VII: The Force Awakens two years ago,...

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Like the 2015 original, this comedy plays merrily with cliches to tell a silly story...

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

There's a somewhat contrived jauntiness to this blending of fact and fiction that may leave...

Ferdinand Movie Review

Ferdinand Movie Review

This animated comedy adventure is based on the beloved children's book, which was published in...

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Director Dave McCary makes a superb feature debut with this offbeat black comedy, which explores...

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

A dramatisation of the real-life clash between tennis icons Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs,...

Shot Caller Movie Review

Shot Caller Movie Review

There isn't much subtlety to this prison thriller, but it's edgy enough to hold the...

Advertisement
The Disaster Artist Movie Review

The Disaster Artist Movie Review

A hilariously outrageous story based on real events, this film recounts the making of the...

Stronger Movie Review

Stronger Movie Review

Based on a true story about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, this looks like one...

Only the Brave Movie Review

Only the Brave Movie Review

Based on a genuinely moving true story, this film undercuts the realism by pushing its...

Wonder Movie Review

Wonder Movie Review

This film may be based on RJ Palacio's fictional bestseller, but it approaches its story...

Happy End  Movie Review

Happy End Movie Review

Austrian auteur Michael Haneke isn't known for his light touch, but rather for hard-hitting, award-winning...

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Seemingly from out of nowhere, this film generates perhaps the biggest smile of any movie...

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

A Victorian thriller with rather heavy echoes of Jack the Ripper, this film struggles to...

Advertisement
Artists
Actors
    Filmmakers
      Artists
      Bands
        Musicians
          Artists
          Celebrities
             
              Artists
              Interviews