"I Heart Huckabee's" is being billed as an existential comedy -- and perhaps that's the best way to
describe it. It has laughs, to be sure, but is too caught up in its own competing schools of
philosophy to make much of an impact as a piece of entertainment.
But that's an unfair criticism for a film that tries so hard to bring intelligent scholarship to a medium
that sorely lacks it. "Waking Life" succeeded in this regard; the first "Matrix" was a modest
metaphysical triumph. But in those cases, the respective filmmakers turned their efforts completely
over to philosophical ideals and striking visuals, in essence negating typical story structures and
character arcs. "I Heart Huckabee's" tries to have it both ways, and fails, instead coming up with a
narrative populated by people the audience doesn't really care about and a bunch of concepts we
don't really grasp.
This is all a shame, because the performances in "I Heart Huckabee's" are first rate -- from Jude
Law's put-upon sales exec to Lily Tomlin's eccentric detective to Jason Schwartzman's sad-sack
environmentalist. The manner in which we meet them is haphazard, though, which starts us off on
the wrong foot from the get-go. It's never quite explained, for instance, why Schwartzman's
character finds three random encoutners with a young African man so profound, or why Naomi
Watts' spokeswoman finds dressing in a bonnet so freeing. Are these personality quirks?
Reactions to conformity? Attempts at a deeper understanding of life? One could make a valid
argument for all three positions, but the lighthearted nature of the film doesn't allow these
hyper-neurotic people to come out of their predetermined roles. There's a reason why there's only
one Charlie Kaufman.
What we're left with, after all of the plot formulaics that occur at random rather than in a logical
progression, is simply dialogue coming out of characters' mouths. (Which character, mind you,
doesn't really matter.) We learn about nihilistic lust courtesy of Isabelle Huppert. We learn about
life's interconnectedness from Dustin Hoffman. Mark Wahlberg stresses that a blend of these two
is the best way to go. But this isn't a graduate thesis, and the information isn't presented in a
manner conducive to engaging cinema.
"I Heart Huckabee's" comes off as the loopy comedy that mainstream audiences find oddly
endearing having been reared on high-concept fluff like "Bruce Almighty" and "Pay It Forward."
But to use a cliche that's as profound as this film, the emperor has no clothes.
Director: David O. Russell
Screened: October 22
Grade: C+
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