I ♥ Huckabees
When is an existential comedy not an existential comedy? When it’s I ♥ Huckabees, the quirky new film from director David O. Russell. Actually, I’m not even sure Huckabees can even be considered a comedy. Sure, there’s some manic energy in the delivery of the actors and the situations they are forced to endure, but the only laughs I can see the film getting from the general public are the confounded laughter of confused patrons that haunted the end every showing of Gigli. Granted, that doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement, but it’s hardly the insult one may think it is. I’m just not sure if audiences are ready for a film which bills itself as a comedy, but isn’t very funny.
The plot of Huckabees centers around Albert (Jason Schwartzman), head of an environmental group who’s hung up on a set of coincidences he’s been experiencing. After finding a business card in a borrowed suit jacket, he consults Bernard and Vivian Jaffe (Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin), a pair of existential detectives who also happen to be married. They agree to take his case, but instead of focusing on what Albert feels his problem is, their investigation turns to Albert’s relationships with Brad (Jude Law), an executive at the Huckabees chain who Albert is trying to stop from destroying an area of wetlands in order to build a new superstore, and Dawn (Naomi Watts), the face and voice of Huckabees’s advertising campaign who also happens to be Brad’s girlfriend. Albert is then introduced to another of the Jaffe’s clients, a firefighter named Tommy (Mark Wahlberg), who has fallen under the spell of Catherine Vaubaun (Isabelle Huppert), a French nihilist who was once a protégée of the Jaffees. Their worlds inevitably collide in ways that are supposed to be funny, but aren’t really.
Don’t misunderstand my review. I keep saying the film isn’t funny, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good film. Actually, I highly recommend it. Mr. Russell, whose films include the war drama Three Kings, the indie flick Spanking the Monkey and the hysterical Flirting with Disaster, is a filmmaker with a different sensibility that most and his film is an interesting parable about the search for meaning in one’s life. It’s resembles what TV people like to call a “dramedy”, a dramatic work with just enough elements of comedy to keep things light. It’s a fun and free-spirited look at a world where we’re constantly searching for something new in our lives. The performances are great across the board, but Mr. Wahlberg deserves special merit for tackling a role that’s much different from the ones he usually takes. The script, co-written by Mr. Russell with Jeff Baena, is just the right mix of clever and whimsical. However, it doesn’t give Ms. Watts anything to work with, so her entire storyline is a bit trite. Things are wrapped up too neatly in the end, but Huckabees is so scrappy and endearing that, in the end, you’re willing to forgive the film for its shortcomings. Just be prepared to not fall down laughing.
Submitted 29 October 04. Posted 27 October 04.
