Starring: Jason Schwartzman,
Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Jude Law, Mark Wahlberg
Released:26th November 2004
Cert: 15
Albert (Schwartzman) is the
founding member an eco-group against urban sprawl but his resistance to the
destruction of a plot of swampland is going nowhere. His beliefs seem
directionless, his efforts are wasted, nobody likes his poetry and he keeps
randomly bumping into an incredibly tall African boy.
As a matter of coincidence he
comes across a business card for ‘Existential Detectives’ (Hoffman and Tomlin)
who he employs to discover the meaning behind the African boy. But to do this
they must study his entire life and those around him because there is no such
thing as a coincidence when all matter and all life are of the same source and
connected.
Others to get embroiled is
Huckabees’ (a chain of department stores) rising PR star Brad (Law), his
girlfriend (the face of Huckabees), Tommy (Wahlberg) – who is an employer of the
detectives who has discovered an anti-theory which states that nothing is
connected – and the author of the ‘Dark Side theory’.
Lives are deconstructed,
re-evaluated and meaning discovered in the unlikeliest of places.
Huckabees is being promoted as ‘An
Existential Comedy’ which is an immediate warning that its content is going to
be ‘off the wall’ if not totally pretentious.
Understandably, there is a lot of dialogue on the meaning of life from
the opposing theorists and from those caught in the middle, which doesn’t sound
like it holds much potential for a bundle of gags, but the concept is so
ridiculously heavy it has to be funny. Add to that the comic performances from
the excellent ensemble cast (who are all as straight as can be, given their
twisted environs) and a solid interweaving plot and here’s something that is
hilarious at times but mainly intently fascinating; What is going to happen next? When am I
going to understand?
There’s a mix of oddity; Tomlin is a comedy actress by trade, Hoffman is
almost on Rainman territory,
Law enjoys a good gurn and Schwartzman and Wahlberg are so passionate about
there causes that they’re veering on the insane. There’s even a plethora of
pratfalls, slaps, bashes and a bout of real dirty sex.
It’s a film that Charlie Kaufman
would be proud of and definitely recommended if you like his and the similar
‘out there’ works of Wes Anderson.
