Who knew that two things like existentialism and comedy could blend together and have such amusing results? What David O. Russell has done here with I Heart Huckabees is interesting to say the least. The film is about Albert Markovski, an eco-activist who hires existential detectives Bernard and Vivian to assess his life and help him figure out his own existential purpose in life. Along the way Albert meets an eccentric array of characters including Tommy, his existential "other," and Caterine, a French psychiatrist of sorts whose philosophies challenge those of Bernard and Vivian's. The film is very interesting to listen to and to watch, but in the end it is still difficult to assess what it all means.
I'll explain in further detail. I Heart Huckabees has a fast paced and very wordy script that doesn't leave much room for gaps in dialogue. The characters discuss philosophy and spiritual theory in all sorts of manners and plenty of different settings and environments, and also at a rapid pace. The film makes sense enough to follow the story, but things do tend to pile on each other and the film gets overwhelming while not actually feeling all that congested. To try to break down everything this film discusses might just be impossible unless you watch the film over and over again and keep detailed notes on ever lengthy conversation. But I will say that this is better than having a completely dead script that goes nowhere and has no ideas of its own. I Heart Huckabees is very thoughtful and it asks a lot of questions of itself, while not answering all of them completely. But I can say that this film has a script full of sharp wit and charming humor no matter how much it stacks onto its plate.
I Heart Huckabees also has a unique visual flare to it that makes it more than just a verbose discussion on existentialism. It has a number of scenes that depict the characters minds in a literal sense, editing together interesting segments where Albert will watch the characters in his life talk at him before he proceeds to cut them up with a machete as if they were cardboard cutouts. These are the kinds of scenes you have to see for yourself and they still won't make total sense but they'll mean a little more. I Heart Huckabees becomes its own visual metaphor at times and I can't quite decide if this helps it to make more sense or just makes it all the more bizarre. I'm not sure what all there is to understand about this movie, quite frankly, because of the mishmash presentation the films ideas are in.
Regardless, there is enough cohesiveness in the film to understand what is going on and it isn't terribly difficult to follow the philosophical trail which needs to be followed in order to get something out of the movie. I can piece together the film's basic existential meaning, but to bring in everything which the film presents into that explanation would be a challenge. But, at its core, I Heart Huckabees is a fun little film that is very original and lets you think a little broader for an hour and forty five minutes of your time. With a little more focus and a little more control this film could have been incredible but instead it is just something unique and fun. It's a harmless film that lets you experience something different.
I'll explain in further detail. I Heart Huckabees has a fast paced and very wordy script that doesn't leave much room for gaps in dialogue. The characters discuss philosophy and spiritual theory in all sorts of manners and plenty of different settings and environments, and also at a rapid pace. The film makes sense enough to follow the story, but things do tend to pile on each other and the film gets overwhelming while not actually feeling all that congested. To try to break down everything this film discusses might just be impossible unless you watch the film over and over again and keep detailed notes on ever lengthy conversation. But I will say that this is better than having a completely dead script that goes nowhere and has no ideas of its own. I Heart Huckabees is very thoughtful and it asks a lot of questions of itself, while not answering all of them completely. But I can say that this film has a script full of sharp wit and charming humor no matter how much it stacks onto its plate.
I Heart Huckabees also has a unique visual flare to it that makes it more than just a verbose discussion on existentialism. It has a number of scenes that depict the characters minds in a literal sense, editing together interesting segments where Albert will watch the characters in his life talk at him before he proceeds to cut them up with a machete as if they were cardboard cutouts. These are the kinds of scenes you have to see for yourself and they still won't make total sense but they'll mean a little more. I Heart Huckabees becomes its own visual metaphor at times and I can't quite decide if this helps it to make more sense or just makes it all the more bizarre. I'm not sure what all there is to understand about this movie, quite frankly, because of the mishmash presentation the films ideas are in.
Regardless, there is enough cohesiveness in the film to understand what is going on and it isn't terribly difficult to follow the philosophical trail which needs to be followed in order to get something out of the movie. I can piece together the film's basic existential meaning, but to bring in everything which the film presents into that explanation would be a challenge. But, at its core, I Heart Huckabees is a fun little film that is very original and lets you think a little broader for an hour and forty five minutes of your time. With a little more focus and a little more control this film could have been incredible but instead it is just something unique and fun. It's a harmless film that lets you experience something different.