I ♥ Huckabees (2004)

Directed by David O. Russell. Starring Jason Schwartzman, Jude Law, Mark Wahlberg, Lily Tomlin, Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Huppert, Naomi Watts, Kevin Dunn, Bob Gunton, Talia Shire, Richard Jenkins, Jean Smart, Ger Duany, Jonah Hill, Sydney Zarp, Isla Fisher. [R]

A difficult film to rate because I can’t read David O. Russell’s mind—if we’re meant to take it seriously as a profound exploration of life’s connections and coincidences, it’s the ramblings of a blatherskite, but if it’s all a big joke satirizing such meaning-of-life pursuits, then it’s often a riot. The pitch of the goofy performances suggests the latter (Russell knows how to get the best out of Mark Wahlberg, and that’s no exception here), but the lack of a final ironic surprise or wicked punchline threatens the former. In short, disillusioned environmentalist Schwartzman hires a married pair of “existential detectives” (Tomlin, Hoffman) to investigate and closely monitor his life to solve his run of bad luck and general dissatisfaction. Wahlberg’s restless fireman is another client, Law’s cutthroat executive is the hero’s rival, Watts is the face of Law’s company who feels valued only for her looks, and Huppert is a renegade former pupil of the detectives who espouses nihilism instead. Very verbose, but paced like a screwball laffer; again, it adds up to nothing substantial, but the improbable journey is fun more often than not. Jeff Baena co-wrote the screenplay with Russell. Schwartzman’s onscreen mom is played by his real-life mom, Talia Shire. Jonah Hill’s film debut; Tippi Hedren and Shania Twain have cameos.

70/100