User Reviews

Finding their business card by happenstance, an insecure environmental activist/poet contracts a pair of so-called “existential detectives” to help straighten out his life. As they snoop and pry into every aspect of his daily routine (especially the bathroom), he falls in with another, unhappier client and contacts a competing agency; the philosophical yin to their yang. Where the first duo preaches unity and harmony, albeit in nonsensical, tripped-out ways, their competition embraces lust and nihilism. From there, a spiritual tug-of-war ensues and the whole bustling train car jumps the rails. Effectively a cynical satire of modern life - a laughing send-up of all the lies we tell, contradictions we overlook and boxes we use for self-imprisonment - I Huckabees is clever, funny, observant and confidently weird. It’s also, primarily, a string of skits in which committed actors gladly project their heads into the clouds and spout all sorts of spacey mumbo-jumbo with stoic conviction. We’re all a part of the same blanket, you see, but that much won’t be obvious until I zip you up in this body bag and let all the demons come out to play. Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin are ideal castings in the detectives’ roles, characters with an expert blend of professorial certainty and air-headed inattention that cast their bait, hook their fish and then forget they’re holding a rod. It doesn’t hurt that they’re old enough to be realistically living through the longest shared acid dream in human history. They’re two bundles of fun together, which is especially remarkable considering Tomlin’s documented on-set screaming match with director David O. Russell. The plot skips and jumps, though, chasing stray threads with the enthusiasm of a house cat and then nonchalantly abandoning them on the living room floor. Which, come to think of it, is also like a house cat. We probably follow two dozen subplots, and only two or three approach any sort of a resolution. Just as we think we’re getting a grasp on where this ship is headed, the captain spins the wheel and we jolt off in a new direction. At least the humor works. Dense layers of irony and absurdity are lathered, a wicked combination which results in some real gut-busters (the dinner table argument is a riot), but those laughs aren’t as constant as they need to be. Huckabees is certainly its own thing - it’s been twenty years now, and I’ve seen nothing else like it - but that blade cuts both ways. Sharp and hilarious at the best of times, but hopelessly unfocused at the worst.

A weird cross between a mediocre indie comedy and a bad philosophy paper, I Heart Huckabees has a lot of ideas but doesn't really know what to do with them

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

This is in no way a great comedy, but it deserves credit for sheer lunacy. Zany, eccentric, absurd, goofy - I could pile on the adjectives. It is completely sui generis, which is probably a good thing. It focuses on Jason Schwartzman, a young activist and department store marketer (or something like that), who approaches an existential detective agency for help in making sense of his life. He battles it out with his boss, sales executive Jude Law and, well, the madness just goes on and on.

this film is the ultimate in-joke. i have never thought about explaining the truth of existence in such a hilarious way. it may just change your world forever. i am interested in knowing how many people involved in this film actually understood its significance while they were making it. Do you think all the actors knew how important it was? Certainly, Dustin Hoffman had some **** acted his character far too **** must know the truth about the cosmic game he described. the fact that movie so all-encompassing can exist is as unlikely as our very own **** leaves me a fuller person than i was before :)

I feel like saying that you might not be smart if you don't get this movie, but then again, I don't really get it either. Great philosophical headspace interspersed with some top performances from Marky Mark and Rushmore guy.

It's about as frantic and as unpredictable as a hummingbird on blow, but David O. Russell's crack at existentialism does prove to be a clever and entertaining philosophical piece at times.

This film manages to convey interesting philosophies while still achieving its ultimate goal which is to be hilarious.Jason Schwartzman and Mark Wahlberg share some great scenes as do Lily Tomlin and Dustin ****'s funny and compelling in equal measure

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]