I Heart Huckabees

I Heart Huckabees (Director: David O. Russell)

I wrote a review for this film earlier today, but much to my chagrin Blogger was "under construction" when I submitted it, and it was lost forever, which I find to be the most glaring flaw with Blogger.

First off, David O. Russell has a unique catalog of films. Spanking the Monkey (1994), Flirting With Disaster (1996), and his critically acclaimed Three Kings (1999).

In sum: Jason Schwartzman plays Albert, an environmentalist who works at a corporation called Huckabees that is interested in making money but is trying to work out a deal to use the least amount of land possible, if any. He butts heads with Brad (Jude Law, movie #2 this fall), who has his own plans that lean towards making money. His girlfriend, Dawn (Naomi Watts) is the hot model spokeswoman for the company. That's as straightforward as it gets, because the spirit of the story is Albert's hiring of existential detectives Bernard (Dustin Hoffman) and Vivian (Lily Tomlin) to figure out a coincidence involving his constant run-ins with a tall African man everywhere he goes, which leads to them being privy to every detail in Albert's life, and later Brad and Dawn's. It's Bernard and Vivian's stance that everything matters and is connected.

Also in the story is Tommy (Mark Wahlberg), who has been using Bernard and Vivian but has begun to dismiss their ideology in favor of Caterine Vauban (Isabelle Huppert), who believes that nothing matters. Through the help of Bernard and Vivian, Tommy teams up with Albert to try to figure out life.

David O. Russell is being put in the same class as Paul Thomas Anderson and Wes Anderson as young, gifted filmmakers to watch for the future, but I'm not one who is sold. I thought Spanking the Monkey was OK, and I liked Three Kings, but I was not a huge fan of Flirting With Disaster and I am not enamored with his latest offering because it's so confusing what the target of satire is here. Is Russell holding people who think they know what life is all about in contempt or people who try to figure it out in contempt? There's not many moments in the movie where you can just let go and enjoy it because the story is puzzling and you're not quite sure what to laugh at--and even if you were I don't think you could find it hilarious. If the point is that the whole thing is ridiculous, and these misguided people's actions are inherently funny, then it's a one-joke premise. It's a dry Saturday Night Live skit.

I left the theatre thinking, maybe I'll like this on the second go-around, but as for now, I'm befuddled as to what this movie was trying to say, ultimately. Wahlberg's performance is the best reason to watch, as it seems like there's a real sense of humor with his character. Everyone else is playing like they know what the joke is, but if I asked them I don't think I'd get a straight answer.