I Heart Huckabees came out on dvd last week, and it seems we're severly lacking in the Huckabees thread department.
But before I get into the dvd, first the movie. I absolutely loved this movie. And if you asked me to pick between this, Eternal Sunshine, and Garden State for my favorite movie of last year, it'd be weeks before you heard back from me. And even then, I have know idea if I would have an answer. The basic plot revoloves around a young man named Albert Markovski(Jason Schwartzman), who has three strange coincidences occur all involving crossing paths with a tall black man. Albert goes to a pair of existential detectives(Dustin Hoffman and Lili Tomlin) for help discovering the meaning of his coincidences. Now imagine a film where all the characters walk around speaking their inner monologues and you have I Heart Huckabees. No side stepping issues, no beating around the bush, no thinking one thing and saying another. But characters doing and saying whatever it is that's really going on inside their heads. And given that most of the action is directed by the pair of existential detectives, you can imagine that many of the conversations will wax philosophical.
I'll tell you, I was hooked from the first scene, which opens up on Albert issuing a string of obsenities and life questions all in his head. I feel this was David O' Russel's way of saying, "here's what goes on in our heads, the rest of the movie it'll all be out in the open."
I sort of liken the movie to a live action Waking Life, except with more of a plot, and hilarious. I say this because I think many viewers will be put off by the overally talkative nature of this movie, with a plot that is not of your standard structure. But if you didn't like Waking Life, don't automatically assume you won't like this either, there are many many differences.
The supporting cast in the film is excellent. Jude Law, Naomi Watts and Mark Wahlberg all put in outstanding performances(not that these characters are really "supporting" per say). Mark Wahlberg shows yet again that he really can act. Naomi Watts shows that she can be really funny. And Jude Law pulls of a character arch that very few other acters would be able to pull off. But enough about the movie. I wasn't really planning on reviewing it. On to the dvd:
There are two versions of the dvd, one has the film and some commentary tracks. The other one, which is twice as much money, literally has twice as much content. It's filled with deleted and alternate scenes, outtakes, a special with Dustin Hoffman, Lili Tomlin, and the director on Charlie Rose(which was pretty interesting), and tons of other stuff.
Some of my favorites are all six Huckabees commercials with Naomi Watts, all six Open Spaces PSAs with Jason Schwartzman, and an outragiously well done and long(we're talking 30 or 40 minutes here) Jaffe and Jaffe Existential Detectives infomercial. The infomercial is not only funny, but really interesting as well, as they have two actual professors guesting on the show. One is some sort of physics professor, and the other is Robert Thurman(Uma Thurman's dad), who is the head of a religious department at some University and also the basis for Dustin Hoffman's character in the movie.
If you enjoyed the movie, the dvd is a must buy. I haven't watched the commentaries yet, but I'm really looking forward to them.
[ February 27, 2005, 08:12 PM: Message edited by: Strider ]
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
You can't deal with my infinite nature, can you?
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
What does that even mean?
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
Have you ever transcended space and time?
Time, not space. No...I don't know what you're talking about.
[ February 28, 2005, 01:05 AM: Message edited by: Strider ]
Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
I thought that movie had some absolutely stellar perfomances from pretty much everyone in it. That being said, I didn't find it very funny and couldn't really get into the story. I followed it, but it didn't grip me. Of course, I was very tired when I saw it, and I even nodded off for a few minutes. I don't know if I was tired because I was bored, or vice versa. Maybe if I saw it in a different environment I'd like it. As it is, I don't quite know how to respond to it. I feel like I'd watch it again to see all the brilliant performances if I didn't have to sit through the tedious story.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
Everyone I know who has seen this movie loves it to bits. It's one of my favourite movies ever. It's the only movie I saw twice this year... and it's like it didn't even exist. A fabulous fairly-widely released movie that was great and nobody even mentioned it? What is this?
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
It has been mentioned here...at least in three threads, including this one.