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| Director(s): | David O. Russell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| IMDB Rating: | 6.90 out of 10 (26605 votes) |
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| Runtime: | 107 minutes |
| Resolution: | 720x292 px |
| Codec: | DivX v5 |
| Bit Rate: | 1025 kbps |
| FPS: | 23.976 |
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Technical Information
| Type | Resolution | Codec | Bitrate | Audio Channels |
| Language: English | 48 kHz | Dolby AC3 | 448 kbps | 6 |
| Language: Russian | 48 kHz | MPEG Layer-3 | 128 kbps | 2 |
Storyline
- An existential comedy
- pot shards
- thoreau
- bizarre
- tibetan buddhism
- green peace
- buddhism
- franz kafka
- watermelon
- sudanese
- absurdism
- anecdote
- arson
- autograph
- ball
- bicycle
- blanket
- breakup
- coincidence
- dinner guest
- divorce
- doorman
- elevator
- environmental protest
- existentialism
- fired
- firefighter
- french
- hobby
- hotel
- immigrant
- jealousy
- model
- mud
- poem
- restaurant
- restroom
- sex
- suburbia
- surreal
- surveillance
- tree
- vulgarity
- writer
- topless
- businessman
- corporation
- fireman
- poetry
- poet
- existentialist
Visitor Reviews
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If you get it, then you must've missed the point posted on 29 Aug 2009
A fun movie with odd characters that's meant to be more entertainment than a decisive view of existentialism. The actors portraying the main characters, mainly Mark Wahlberg and Jason Schwartzman are great in their roles.
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I give this movie one star out of ten! Stupid premise.Stupid plot.As usual, terrible acting by Mark Wahlberg.The premise is about a man who hires an existenial private investigators to investigate series of coincidental meeting with a certain man.This movie is one of the worst I have ever since!And I only saw thirty minutes of the film and I could not stand to see it any longer.I was going to stop the movie after viewing it for fifteen minutes but I hoped it would get better but it kept getting worse!I am thankful that my friend loaned me his screener because if I had to pay money to see this junk, I would have given this movie a negative number!What a waste of talents!
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I suppose the most alluring thing of this film is the title: 'I Heart Huckabees'. It really gets you thinking: What the hell is a Huckabees? A person? With a cute little red love heart and several strange expressive faces on the front of the DVD, why wouldn't you pick it up in intrigue? You notice it has Naomi Watts in it - as in, 'Mulholland Dr.', '21 Grams' Naomi Watts - Queen of Modern Drama, and you look around you in the video store. Are you certain you picked it up in the comedy section?Thus starts the journey of 'I Heart Huckabees'.The film follows Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman) in his journey for enlightenment on a series of encounters with a tall Sudanese boy. He approaches existential detectives Bernard and Vivian, a husband and wife team, who teach him their philosophy of enlightenment and try to connect his coincidences to get their deeper significance.In the process, several people linked to Albert become involved and end up on the client roster of Bernard and Vivian. Albert is then convinced by his 'other' (a friend who is going through the same turmoil as you, a 'buddy' of sorts) to try a different philosophy, which teaches the opposite, devised by Caterine Vauban (Isabelle Huppert).This film is determined to be life-changingly philosophical, which it states unashamedly - "this is a story that will give a hilarious new meaning to your life!" - featuring detectives who investigate seemingly random, or seemingly related coincidences in anyone's life. It's a battle of philosophies - one dark and the other not dark enough.Philosophy One: Practised by Bernard and Vivian (Dustin Hoffman & Lily Tomlin).* Everything is connected (no coincidences are random) * The blanket is the universe * The tree (a coping technique to bring happiness and peace to the individual)Philosophy Two: Practised by Caterine Vauban.* Nothing is connected (coincidences are random) * Everything is meaningless * The ball (another coping technique) is temporary relief to escape the inevitability of human dramaNow, to answer your question, what the hell is Huckabees? Well, Huckabees is a department store, much like Wal-Mart or Target, with the tag-line, "The Everything Store". Naomi Watts plays Dawn Campell, who is the spokesperson for Huckabees, in other words: she prances around in a bikini yelling bargain prices to a camera in advertisements for Huckabees. Watts shows comedic flair in this role, as the ditzy blonde who realises life has more meaning, and therefore she can wear a bonnet if she wants to!Albert is the leader of an environmental group, with an artistic flair for writing riveting poems ("You rock, rock! The rock just sits and is.") who is trying to make a deal with Huckabees to save the marsh.Brad (Jude Law) is a hate-able executive who manipulates the existential detectives' investigative process to make Albert look bad, and realises karma is a formidable thing.Mark Wahlberg does as admirable job as Albert's 'other', Tommy, who introduces him to the philosophy of meaninglessness.Mark Wahlberg and Jude Law sometimes try a little too hard to be funny (though, I admit, Jude Law is usually charming). The trio of philosophers (Bernard, Vivian & Caterine) who started this whole charade all posses an annoying superiority which is reflective of their character's attitudes. They are fascinating to watch, as they spurt philosophies ("My infinite nature!") on the miracle/curse of human existence.What you get from this complicated plot is a slightly pretentious, occasionally funny, a-bit-too-deliberately quirky, but well-acted film, which exists, not to change your life as it states, but to make you laugh at how we philosophise over our existence when we can't very well change our circumstances.I am really torn on how to rate this film. It layers on the philosophy aspect real thick and revels in its own cleverness in a way that irritates me, but it also has some genuinely funny moments, usually provided by Jason Schwartzman and Naomi Watts. I think a six is fair - 5 for being a well-made film, and 1 extra for the genuinely funny moments.I think if there is one major thing missing from this film, it's a relationship which the audience actually cares about. The lack of chemistry between some characters in romantic relationships and friendships makes the film less engaging. I only really cared for two characters - Albert (luckily, the main character) and Dawn.The 'cleverness' of this film overshadows the feelings of those tangled up in it. But I wouldn't dare call it overrated, because it has its merits. Screenplay writers like Charlie Kaufman, who write 'clever' scripts (it's a matter of opinion), usually have well-developed characters who feel and who the audience feels for. One might argue, that being classified as comedy, this film doesn't need believable relationships to work. Personally, if I don't believe it I don't care, and if I don't care I don't laugh.I know the comparison between Charlie Kaufman's screenplays and 'I Heart Huckabees' is pathetic, and I apologize. Kaufman suffers from moments of pretentiousness too. I think the link between Kaufman and 'I Heart Huckabees' that I made arose from the opening of this film and 'Adaptation' - the self-deprecating voice over that introduces the character.Anyway, that extremely long comment is what I thought about 'I Heart Huckabees', now go and decide for yourself. P.S. The score is brilliant.
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I Heart Huckabees. An odd little title to go with an odd little film. When deconstructed, there really isn't a great deal you can see at its heart. Plot? There is some, but it's not very clearly defined. Characters? There are some fascinating characters but by the end they have almost merged to form one and the same. Cinematic style and panache? Well, there's plenty of that. But as with all of the above elements, as well as the central theme of existentialism running through this film, it's basically nothing more than a mishmash of differing and, at times, juxtaposed themes, ideas, in short, everything.Our central player is Albert (Jason Schwartzman) who hires a pair of 'existential detectives' (Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin) to investigate a strange coincidence he encountered recently whereby he ran into the same African gentleman in three different places. The investigation, and his spiritual/emotional journey in the meantime lead him (and of course, the audience in turn) down many strange turns and many strange pathways, while all the while his everyday life is taking similar turns and takes.It's the suspension of disparities between everyday life, and how we view that everyday life, that gives this film its major appeal. It's also the principle underlying existentialist philosophy as is my understanding, but we won't go there because we could never stop. Essentially the plot we are given is nothing out of the ordinary, and nothing too deep or complex. But superimposed over that is this attempt to find answers to the meaning of life, or whether there even is a meaning.For this reason the film works brilliantly as a subtle satire, which is the reading I think I've chosen to give the film. There are countless plot points throughout the film that could be rehashed from basically any old garble to come out of Hollywood, only rewritten as though every character has a conscious or unconscious obsession with seeking out absolute truth in the world. This is, when it comes right down to it, very very funny. And my friend and I found ourselves laughing almost constantly through the film, possibly just at the sheer absurdity of a movie with an ideal such as this even being written. The fact, however, that it seems to be done in such a tongue-in-cheek kind of manner makes it not only extremely entertaining but utterly endearing as well.On top of this, the satire itself somehow is also used to get across the existential message that the film purports to express. Basically the way in which the characters continually search for meaning and truth while living out uneventful, if not entirely typical lives raises the question about whether or not life actually does have meaning. Or rather, does the film have a meaning, or a purpose, or a message? At times it seems as though it's doing nothing but ridiculing the whole concept, and then there are times when I thought maybe there was a deeper meaning to the whole concept of ridiculing? Well let's get off that tack. The point is it's impossible to say for certain what the meaning, if there even is one, is.And it's largely through the use of the detectives (who are portrayed brilliantly, incidentally, by both Hoffman and Tomlin) that this underlying message comes about. While a lot of the dialogue takes the form of philosophical debates between the characters, I also found a lot of the time that I'd be for a moment absorbed in the action, and then the camera would pan out to reveal the fact that the detectives had been peering/listening in on the whole conversation, and suddenly I was dragged out of that cosy reality and reminded suddenly that we were in the middle of an existential conundrum.What am I trying to say with this meaningless drivel? In very simple terms, I loved this film. I loved everything about it. I loved the lightness of plot, the ambiguity of characters, I loved the mishmash of different directing and writing techniques. I just loved the way it used all the elements to create not just a film but a manifestation of one simple premise - what's the meaning of a coincidence? At one point, I wondered how much longer the film would go on for, but not because I was getting bored, rather because I wanted it to last for longer. It's a film like no other, and for that reason I can imagine certain circles hating its guts. But representing myself and my own particular faction, I love it. ****1/2 out of *****
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I thought Three Kings was a very good film. No doubt about it. Now we get this new movie from David O. Russell and it is a slightly different affair. I know part of the point of this movie was that it was supposed to be abstract but I don't know, maybe I was not in the right mood for this one. Perhaps that is it, this is a mood movie, although I did not know what to expect as I purposefully did not try to find out much about it apart from see the trailer. All the actors gave very good performances but in the end I just thought there was not enough emotional glue emanating from this film to keep me hooked. In actual fact I fell asleep before the end. After contemplation the next morning I decided that the 30-45 minutes that I would have to spend the next day trying to get back into the movie I was not really into in the first place would be time well spent doing something else. I would need to give myself a little more time to hopefully be in a more perceptive frame of mind before I decided to rent this movie again.
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It's hard to categorize a film that tries to shake you at every turn. This movie defies explanation short of it being written in a nut house, but it's nonetheless slap happy entertainment at its most intellectual.Existential detectives hunting down a string of odd coincidences involving a very tall black man? It's odd, it's funny, and it works.This movie juggles a handful of subplots swirling around the main characters as they all try to figure out just what's right and wrong about them. You'll enjoy every minute of it. Never have I seen a movie so deeply interested in the characters' development. Since that's the crux of the movie, that only makes sense, but it's all rendered with a wit and wisdom seemingly antithetical to the movie's occasional (and intentional) crudeness.The all-star cast gives a combined knockout performance, and you'll be laughing along the way.
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Everybody writing below is right. Of course. Because we are, after all, all one. Each critic speaks to a different facet of our common reality.
If you studied existentialism in the 1960s and then somehow went on with your life, this movie will absolutely delight you. No sacred cows. There is even a hilariously looped subplot involving warring factions of professionals in the oneness business...
The nice thing: every character in the film ends up changed for the better. It's a feelgood flick! No one is left out of some frame of self-improvement, even the "detectives."
But, as Nick Danger would have said, don't make a career out of it... -
I Love Huckabees is not a good movie, but there is a good movie buried deep down inside. It really deserves two stars, but I gave it three for the effort. The problem with this movie is that real art communicates a message through metaphor - it's show, not tell. This movie is all tell. Instead of letting the viewer figure things out, the entire film is full of speeches straight out of philosophy class. Now, I love philosophy, but this is just not entertainment. Sadly, the performances were all excellent. If this movie had a different director, a slowed down pace, maybe a few scenes cut out, it could have been a great movie, as the ideas behind it are really interesting. But as it stands, besides a few good laughs, Huckabees is not very good. Also, the music stinks and Jude Law cannot hide his British accent at all.
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Fun, Fast, and Furious...but not a crooked camera angle or a Ludicrous song in sight!?!?!?! posted on 14 Aug 2009
A delectable delight for your pseudo intelligent viewing pleasure. I saw I Heart Huckabees twice in the theaters, bought it on DVD, and have watched it about 4 or 5 times since; it's simply THAT FUN! However enjoyable it is (I'll put up no fight here), it's ultimately important not to get fooled by what many people say about this movie achieving super-human status. This movie is a comedy, and an independent art piece. So really, it's an art comedy. But in reality, it still remains a quality "comedy flick". The exploration of existentialism is perhaps the movies front-running theme, and seems of the utmost artistic quality at first glance, sort of like a paramount Woody Allen film without the slapstick (see Love and Dealth c.1975). However, this is surely not the case when this movie is fully critiqued.I like to call it "Existentialism dumbed down for the masses", which is perfectly fine when making a "nice comedy". All in all don't mistake this movie for "GREATNESS", and simply enjoy it for what it is: a nice comedy.You will laugh. Mark Wahlberg delivers (in my opinion) his best performance, as the brash, yet sensitive Fireman, Tommy Corn. Lilly Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman as the Existential Detectives simply rule. Jude Law (love him or hate him) delivers yet again. Finally, Jason Schwartzman does his thing as Albert Markovski, the confused environmental activist.This is one of those movies you can always watch, like Back to the Future, or Office Space, or Goonies. The fact that it is very artsy fartsy and visually stimulating doesn't catapult it into classic status.
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It failed to mention Huckabee's stance on illegal immigration. It failed to mention the fact that Huckabee is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. It failed to mention the fact that Huckabee favors NAFTA, the North American Union, and Amnesty for illegal aliens.Hillary mentioned the fact that she will give amnesty to illegal aliens. Huckabee hides the fact that he will do this. He has stood beside Ted Kennedy, and Bush on these issues. This is why Arkansas is flooded with illegal aliens. He has not allowed enforcement of any kind.If you vote for Huckabee, you will get Hillary.His Bio: http://www.cfr.org/bios/13301/mike_huckabee.htmlI will be voting for Ron Paul in 2008.
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One of my favorite films of the 2000's as of now, Huckabees is a philosophical journey of the kids of Generation X, who are now young adults and have to take all sorts of responsibilities on themselves. Apparently, life in the 21st century isn't as easy as the 1990's were: the everlasting debate between forceful yet constructive capitalism (shown in the film by Jude Law's character) and the arising social awareness, both economic and humane (as shown by the character of Mark Wahlberg) thrust young Albert (Jason Schwartzman, 'Rushmore') into a self enlightening journey, through which he has to decide what is the meaning and purpose of his own personal life. Driven by a series of strange re-occurring encounters with an African immigrant, Albert turns to a couple of existential detectives (Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin) for help on figuring out what is the meaning of all this, and where is his life leading him. From this point on, a series of mind boggling events unfold, which also include a french philosopher (Isabel Hupert), who rivals the studies of Hoffman and Tomlin, and a very light headed model (Naomi Watts) who starts questioning her everyday existence as well.
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Well, I watched this movie yesterday on cable television and thought it was pretty good. I don't see why some people simply must complain about problems they make up themselves and then make it public. Maybe they want attention, I wouldn't know because I've never done it myself; but this movie is a MUST see for anyone "trully" into ANY type of philosophy at all. Existence is a very abstract concept and is portrayed nicely in this movie. One thing I found out to be very true, is the idea that when they hit themselves with the rubber ball (yes this sounds weird but it's not) they have that feeling, but later on they are dragged back into life's drama and that this is a cicle. I must say that if you "really" enjoy philosophy watch it.
No. This guy is not Socrates or Plato or Aristotle, he is no genious so don't expect a masterpiece that will stand in the tests of time but expect an enjoyable movie that does have it's moments and that will make you ask yourself questions throughout the movie. If you don't enjoy philosophy or you THINK you enjoy philosophy but everytime you read, hear or watch an amateur's work you feel like burning it, I would say save yourself some time go make your life better and leave the criticsm to us the constructive ones. Thank you. -
If you're a trendy art student type who just saw Blue Velvet and thought it was "amayyyyyzing" then this pretentious piece of chin strokery is right up your corduroy sleeve. David O'Russel in another in a canon of directors who like to think they're audiences are a bunch of New York intellectuals who like to read Satre and discuss existentialism over a cup of steaming hot Java made from beans crushed by extinct Mayan tribesmen. This film bored the hair off me. It was one of the most painful cinematic experiences I've had in years. Do not rent buy or pay to see this nonsense, it will only encourage all involved to continue to make such rubbish.
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A man visits a rather unique detective agency in order to find out whether or not his encounters with a Nigerian refugee are coincidences or not, and gets something entirely different.This is the backdrop of I *heart* Huckabees, probably one of the most unique movies I've ever seen. The movie seems to be a huge statement on the argument of existentialism versus nihilism. One could take most of the dialog from the film and transplant it into a coffee shop.As odd as the film is, there isn't really anything that doesn't fall into place, you leave the movie feeling pretty satisfied.I can't really say all that much, because you really need to see it for yourself; this isn't a warning against spoilers, that's to be taken literally. There is so much in this movie that makes you scrunch up your face for a bit, and then, you go, OH. All in all, an enjoyable experience.
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Never seen such unmitigated garbage before in my entire life.Vacuous, pseudo-intellectual, pretentious crap.Good actors made to look like complete idiots, trying to bring life to shallow, pretentious dialogue - in an awful screenplay for even worse story.Only Mark Wahlberg partly succeeds in bringing some humanity to his character. The rest - dreadful. It is a shame to see an actor like Dustin Hoffman reduced to this sort of nonsense.Still, the film is successful! I guess the catchphrase "existential comedy" has a nice ring to it and would appeal to anyone who wants to feel clever but isn't.
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Like many others have commented, this film is not for everyone. However, how anyone cannot find "I Heart Huckabee's" hilarious and thought-provoking is beyond me. This is a beautifully crafted film that pokes fun at everything in American Culture. The film is filled with witty and intellectually hilarious dialogue, strong performances from the whole cast, and is just a "hey, the world isn't such a dark place" kind of film. Some people wont understand the films "infinite nature," and/or ability to "transcend both time and space." Sadly, this is due in part to major studio's constantly feeding audiences recycled garbage like Bad Boys II, Fast and the Furious, King Arthur, SWAT (and on and on). I Heart Huckabee's is a great film, period. If your looking for something fresh, funny, and interesting that wont make you feel like you've dropped 100 points lower in your IQ after watching it...see this film!
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In short I find this to be a popcorn version of what Charlie Kaufmann has been doing for the past 5 years in "Eternal Sunshine" and "Being John Malkovich." The performances seem a bit phoned-in at times, giving an overall half-baked quality to the film. It feels rushed. At other times it overreaches and then winds up feeling a bit like an American remake of a better European film. I kept thinking -- I've seen this somewhere before...
Still it has its charm. The visuals are fun, but again, I thought "Eternal Sunshine" was better.
Yes, the DVD is JAM-PACKED with great extras, almost too much to take in -- I mean the film isn't so good that I want to waste so much time watching almost two dozen deleted scenes or interviews.
Fun philosophizing with BIG stars. Not great, but good. ***1/2 -
I'm too late with my review to help "I Heart Huckabees" at the box office, but I hope I can convince someone to rent the DVD. This picture is based on the ideas of Alan Watts. Good and evil are different sides of the same coin. Life is theater. We are all part of and continuous with each other and the entire universe. All of this was done artfully and entertainingly. Watts would have approved. The cast was perfect. For example, Isabelle Huppert played a French intellectual femme fatale with a calling card saying "Cruelty, manipulation, meaninglessness". How much better can casting get? The narrative has been criticized as weak. There are overlapping stories of people passionately immersed in their personal lives and causes. Some see beyond the theater of life, some don't, just as Watts would have it. I left the theater amused and refreshed.