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Billed as an ‘existential comedy’, I Heart Huckabees takes America's obsession with therapy to the extreme. Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin are 'existential detectives' hired to investigate the anxieties of Albert Markovski (Jason Schwarzman), an angry young poet who is using the conservation of endangered marshland as a launch pad for his adolescent poetry. His main problem is his hatred of Brad (Jude Law) - a wonderfully shallow executive who has hijacked the noble cause for his own ends. The 'investigation' embroils Brad and his trophy girlfriend Dawn(Naomi Watts) and while Brad and Albert squabble under the blanket of infinite space and time, she embraces the 'how am I not myself' ethos and ditches her glitzy bikini for a bonnet and dungarees. All this is before rogue detective Isabelle Huppert scuppers the whole thing with sex and nihilism and the cast fall spectacularly apart in a flurry of wrestling, tears and expletives.
Huckabees is refreshingly over-the-top given it's A-list cast. Reminiscent of Charlie Kaufman's recent triumphs, the energetic performances and unique visual flourishes make it a sharp and enjoyable comedy.

 

Steve Turner on 1st March 2005
View all 30 of Steve Turner's reviews