I Heart Huckabees (R, 2004)

In I HEART HUCKABEES, Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman) is having problems at work. The Open Spaces coalition he put together to oppose development of a marsh and woods is losing its focus, thanks to the charm and dazzle of Brad Stand (Jude Law), a smooth public relations guy from a WalMart-like chain called Huckabees, "the everything store." But what Albert wants to understand is a coincidence. He has seen the same tall young African man three times in three very different circumstances and wants to know what that means. So he goes to a husband and wife team of "existential detectives," Vivian (Lily Tomlin) and Bernard Jaffe (Dustin Hoffman) and asks them to investigate. He just wants them to examine the coincidence and tells them to stay away from his office, but since they believe that everything is connected they accept no limitations; they may not even see any. Meanwhile, another client of the existential detectives is having, well, an existential crisis. A fireman named Tommy (Mark Wahlberg) is reading a book by Caterine Vauban (Isabelle Huppert) that says nothing in life is connected or meaningful, and that feels much more real to him than what the Jaffes have been telling him. Brad Stand has also hired the Jaffes, and is not prepared for what happens when they begin talking to his girlfriend, Dawn (Naomi Watts), the bikini-wearing Huckabees spokesmodel.

There aren't many comedies about existentialism, and the brilliance of this movie is the way it uses the form of the screwball comedy to both represent and explore existential themes. The movie has a sure sense of comic structure and timing, with classic comedy conventions like high-speed dialogue, wild plot permutations, family craziness, over-reaction to trivial things, under-reaction to non-trivial things, some sharp satire about our consumer culture, a little slapstick, some terrible poetry, and of course a few romantic complications. I Heart Huckabees is clearly the product of someone who has waded through teutonic philosophy and eastern mysticism and fortunately come out the other side with his sense of humor intact.

Director and co-screenwriter David O. Russell has a lot of fun playing with the classic philosophical dualities/debates. The difference between philosophy and art is that philosophy tries to deal with dichotomies in a logical and linear way, while art is free to ricochet back and forth between them like a pinball machine. Russell directs his crackerjack cast at top speed and they all perform with buoyant conviction and pure comic energy that is delicious to watch. This is Law's best performance so far, stunning in its fearlessness and control of tone. He keeps Brad a character and not a caricature, when he is at his most charming and when he begins to unravel.

Studio: Fox Searchlight
Director: David O. Russell
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Jude Law, Naomi Watts
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 106 minutes
Theatrical release: September 30, 2004
DVD release: February 22, 2005
MPAA Rating: R
MPAA explanation: language and a sex scene