I © Huckabees   
 

Albert Markovski: Jason Schwartzman

Caterine Vauban: Isabelle Huppert

Bernard: Dustin Hoffman

Vivian: Lily Tomlin

Brad Stand: Jude Law

Tommy Corn: Mark Wahlberg

Dawn Campbell: Naomi Watts

 

Directed by David O. Russell

 

Written by David O. Russell

& Jeff Baena
Is it possible for a movie to be too intellectual?  It's a question I never thought I would have to ask.  That is until I walked out of the theater after seeing I © Huckabees, the new movie from David O. Russell (Three Kings).  I definitely look forward to any movie that strives to be ambitious and creative.  One that looks to stretch the limits of things that I have previously seen.  And there is no denying that I © Huckabees is one of these films.  Unfortunately, it is unable to support itself; collapsing under the weight of all its theories, characters, and plotlines. 

Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman) is the poetry-reading leader of an environmental group out to save a marsh and forest from commercial development.  After running into the same tall African man three times, he seeks the help of the existential detectives Bernard and Vivian, played by Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin, to explain the coincidence.

The detectives set out to prove to Albert that everything in the world is connected and everything is the same.  Their method involves constant spying on their subject, which leads them to learn about the other people in Albert's life. 

One of these people is Brad Stand (Jude Law), who works at Huckabees Department Store and takes over as the leader of Albert's environmental group in a dual effort to help both his store and the land.  He has a fixation on Shania Twain (a celebrity endorser of Huckabees?) and secures her likeness for the drive to protect the marsh.  He is dating the "voice of Huckabees," Dawn Campbell (Naomi Watts) and, soon, these two are drawn into the world of Albert and the detectives. 

Meanwhile, the detectives introduce Albert to Tommy Corn (Mark Wahlberg), who is another client of theirs.  He is Albert's "other" - described by Tommy as something resembling a buddy system.  Tommy is disenfranchised by the progress of the detectives and turns to the teachings of Caterine Vauban (Isabelle Huppert), an adversary of Bernard and Vivian who teaches that life is meaningless. 

Amazingly, that does not even explain the half of it.  Russell even gives us glimpses of Tippi Hedren, Talia Shire, and Shania Twain in small roles.  But it's all too much.  All these characters weave in and out of the convoluted story as events and developments are created out of thin air as Russell tries to explain the latest incident or conundrum.  In Russell's desire to explain how everything is connected, he has managed to produce a disjointed film where nothing adds up.  And maybe that's his point.  Either way, though, it doesn't work. 

Russell does get a lot out of his actors in this film.  Schwartzman does a nice job as the main character who has everything revolve around him.  Hoffman and Tomlin give solid performances as the two people guiding everyone else around them to the truth.  And the always-dependable Naomi Watts is able to sink her teeth into the impressionable, pampered Huckabees model Dawn.  Her performance alone is worth seeing.

I © Huckabees has plenty of laughs, a lot of intriguing characters, and it does pose some interesting questions when Russell allows the audience to catch up and make some sense out of everything.  However, the film tries hard to stay far ahead of the audience - a little too hard - and it only succeeds in becoming a movie incapable of being embraced and too easily forgotten.