Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Jude Law, Naomi Watts and Jason Schwartzman
Director: Daniel O. Russell
Rated: M15+
HUCKABEES is a large chain of cheap department stores in the US. It’s a thinly veiled allegory for Wal-Mart.
Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman) is an environmentalist campaigning against the expansion of the Huckabees chain.
Huckabees’ executive Brad Stand (Jude Law) joins Albert’s ecological lobby, takes it over, and expels Albert from the organisation.
Sent into a crisis of meaning, Albert seeks out an existential investigating team, Bernard (Dustin Hoffman) and Vivian (Lily Tomlin).
This very eccentric couple offer their clients the ability to discover the purpose and meaning of existence. They follow Albert everywhere, recording all his movements, and analysing with him, the significance of all this activity for his life’s destiny.
Unexpectedly, Bernard and Vivian’s former protege and now arch-rival Caterine Vauban (Isabelle Huppert) arrives in town.
She tries to persuade Albert that rather than follow Bernard and Vivian’s belief that the universe is connected, he will only be happy when he accepts that the universe, and his life, is cruel, manipulated and meaningless.
Meanwhile, Brad and his girlfriend Dawn (Naomi Watts) get drawn into Vivian and Bernard’s circle as well with life-changing effects.
If this storyline sounds complex, you’re right!
I Heart Huckabees is a brave if flawed satirical comedy on the nature of reality.
It has a very verbal script which explores the ground on which Catholic philosophers have made their living for centuries.
That said, and despite an outstanding cast delivering good performances, I Heart Huckabees lurches from some inspired moments to several dull, flat patches.
The eccentricities of the characters undermine the importance of the issues.
The genre of satire is a good and venerable way in which to explore these issues, but on this occasion it works to distance the viewer from the material.
I wonder how many people will reconsider the meaning of life five minutes after this film is over?
Students of philosophy will have fun picking the quotations of great minds throughout the film. For other viewers the often used violent language and sex scenes may be disturbing.
In short, I Heart Huckabees is an uneven film which wears its intelligence a little too much on its sleeve.
