I Heart Huckabees

Starring: Jason Schwartzman, Isabelle Huppert, Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Jude Law, Mark Wahlberg, Naomi Watts
Directed by: David O. Russell
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
2004

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: An environmentalist (Jason Schwartzman) and a firefighter (Mark Wahlberg) hire existential detectives (Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin) to help them with their personal crises.

Review:

Tim: I'm still not entirely sure what to think of this film. At the very least, the film puts together an unbelievable cast. You have to like this movie for its original, off-the-wall, zany premise, in the veins of films like Being John Malkovich. While the unique qualities set this film apart, its shortomings bring it back to earth.

As I mentioned, the cast is great. Jason Schwartzman knows his way around a comedy and has some unexplainable, likeable quality to him. Mark Wahlberg gives a surprisingly good performance. Very often I do not like him in movies, but here he was funny and extremely likeable. Dustin Hoffman is always fun to watch, and that certainly doesn't change here. Jude Law and Naomi Watts don't really do it for me. This might be partially because they just aren't pleasant characters, but I feel like they were the weakest part of the film, and slowed the movie down whenever they were on screen.

While the film starts out pretty strong, the originality and the existential themes quickly grow old, and the film loses momentum halfway through. While it is able to pick it up at the end and save the movie from a far worse fate, as is often the case, it's too little, too late.

David O. Russell does give us a pretty original and refreshingly unique movie. Its flaws prevent it from becoming great, but it is still worth seeing.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Rushmore, Stranger Than Fiction