I Heart Huckabees Details

“Indescribable” is probably not the most helpful adjective to encounter in a film review, but it really is the only one that will do for director David O Russell's bravely weird melange of cod-existential philosophy, Gen-X angst, corporate intrigue and slapstick comedy. Albert (Rushmore's Jason Schwartzman) is an environmental activist whose “Open Spaces Coalition” is sponsored by the Huckabees superstore chain, represented by executive Brad Stand (Jude Law). Troubled by a series of coincidences, Albert employs existential detectives (played by the brilliantly wacky Dustin Hoffman and Lili Tomlin) to investigate his life, and through them meets firefighter Tommy Corn (Mark Wahlberg) who rides to conflagrations on a bicycle in order to save the planet. I Heart Huckabees is simultaneously odd, ambitious, pretentious and optimistic; will no doubt irritate some viewers hugely while delighting others; and delivers a final surprise in that Mark Wahlberg establishes himself as a superb comic actor. And that's as close to a description as you're going to get.

Odd comedy full of philosophical asides, taken at a meandering pace; the message it delivers is not the artistic creed 'only connect,' but an insistence that we are all connected, though not necessarily at the funny-bone.