Review of I ♥ Huckabees (2004) by Chris W — 08 Mar 2011

Any movie that features Mark Wahlberg and Jason Schwartzman whacking each other in the face with a ball automatically deserves taking a look at.

Released in 2004. I Heart Huckabees is a wild and offbeat philosophical comedy about people suffering through various existential crises who hire existential detectives to help them figure things out. Sounds odd, I know, and it's kind of hard to really describe this movie, but basically think of it as heavy intellectual material mixed with funny midlife crisis (only existential in nature) type of stuff. I figured this movie would be really obtuse and inaccessible, but it's actually not that hard to follow or get into if oyu pay a bit of attention and have an open mind.

The cast is great. There's tons of well known names and faces, and that goes for the cameos and bit players as well. Everyone does a pretty good job, too. Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin are a joy to watch, and they make a great team. They same goes for Wahlberg and Schwartzman. Law is a bit of an asshole ,but that means he's done his job as an actor. Watts looks good in a bonnet and well, I dunno, you just kind of have to see this.

The movie is pretty good, but not great. It might be a little too heady for some, but that's what you get when you go offbeat (sometimes, but not always). It seems a bit random at times, and some might not like having the question of "what's the point?" not answered immediately, but those are really the only issues I have. That the overall revelation/answer is something I believe in anyway makes me only enjoy this movie even more.

Give it a shot, you might really find something to enjoy here.