I Heart Huckabees
I Heart Huckabees ★★ 2004 (R)
Director Russell's existential comedy has a cast willing to take chances with material that is too clever for its own good—and a viewers' enjoyment. Environmentalist/poet Albert (Schwartzman), fighting giant retail chain Huckabees, takes his search for enlightenment to the offices of existential detectives Bernard and Vivian Jaffe (Hoffman, Tomlin), who believe everything in life is connected. Albert thinks his nemesis is Huckabee's golden exec Brad Stand (Law) and Brad's gorgeous spokesmodel girlfriend Dawn (Watts) until they also become the Jaffes' clients. Then Albert befriends Tommy Corn (Wahlberg), a firefighter, who has become involved with French nihilist Caterine (Huppert), who believes everything is meaningless and…okay, things get even more convoluted, although Tomlin and Hoffman, at least, seem to be having a grand time. 105m/C VHS, DVD . Jason Schwartzman, Isabelle Huppert, Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Jude Law, Mark Wahlberg, Naomi Watts; D: David O. Russell; W: David O. Russell, Jeff Baena; C: Peter Deming.