Friday, October 1, 2004

R

For language and a sex scene

Comedy

Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Huppert, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Lily Tomlin, Mark Wahlberg, Naomi Watts, Jake Muxworthy, Kevin Dunn

David O. Russell, Jeff Baena

David O. Russell

I Heart Huckabees (2004)

The fourth film from writer and director David O. Russell (THREE KINGS, FLIRTING WITH DISASTER, SPANKING THE MONKEY) is a comedy that's all about what it's all about.

Convinced that a series of coincidences involving a doorman hold some secret to life's largest riddles, Albert Markovski (JASON SCHWARTZMAN) seeks the help of a detective agency unlike any other. . . which leads him down a path that questions the essence of existence itself.

In an attempt to ferret out the meaning of these flukes, he consults Bernard and Vivian Jaffe (DUSTIN HOFFMAN, LILY TOMLIN), AKA the Existential Detectives, a pair of married metaphysicians who fearlessly investigate the mysteries at the core of their clients' secret innermost lives. When on a case, these two follow their clients around closely, observe their daily activities, query their friends and employers and intently examine the lives they lead. The difference is that the Existential Detectives seek the solutions to the most persistent mystery of all the one that lies at the core of reality and existence itself . . . which means their investigations can get a little tricky.

Bernard and Vivian kick off their existential exploration of Albert Markovski by probing his past and present reality. Along the way, they uncover his festering conflict with Brad Stand (JUDE LAW), a golden boy executive climbing the corporate ladder at Huckabees, a popular chain of retail super-stores that wants to sponsor Albert's Open Spaces Coalition for the PR value. The Existential Detectives are convinced that Brad seemingly Albert's opposite -- is the key to cracking Albert's case, but then Brad turns the tables on their investigation, by hiring the detectives himself.

As Bernard and Vivian begin to dig deeper into Brad's ambition and his relationship with Huckabees' hot blonde spokesmodel Dawn (NAOMI WATTS), Albert begins to lose faith and rebels against their conclusions. Pairing up with another of the duo's clients . firefighter, tough guy and uncompromising soul searcher Tommy (MARK WAHLBERG) he joins forces with the Jaffes' arch nemesis, the sexy French philosopher Caterine Vauban (ISABELLE HUPPERT), who valiantly battles for the contrasting point of view. Now, as Being chases Nothingness, Albert, Tommy, Brad, Dawn, Bernard, Vivian and Caterine chase one another in a wild romp through life's biggest questions to find the true answer.

Directed by Russell from a script by Russell and Jeff Baena, I Heart HUCKABEES stars Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Huppert, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Lily Tomlin, Mark Wahlberg and Naomi Watts. The producers are David O. Russell, Gregory Goodman and Scott Rudin, and the executive producer is Michael Kuhn.

The philosophical battles that lie at the heart of I Heart HUCKABEES battles between meaning and futility, interconnectedness and individualism, idealism and conventional success -- have long been waged in the mind of writer/director David O. Russell, which is what led him to the creation of Albert Markovski, the Existential Detectives and the script for I Heart HUCKABEES. "I became intrigued by the idea of a detective following someone around not for any criminal or personal intrigue, but rather as part of a very serious investigation about existence itself," he says. "This was a funny idea to me yet also full of ideas that are very serious.

In writing the screenplay, Russell drew on the concepts of several different conflicting strains of philosophy from the non-dual, interconnectedness theories of Eastern philosophy, which influence Bernard and Vivian, to the Sartrean notions of a more meaningless universe that demands a profound individualism, which are found in the words and actions of the Existential Detectives' alter ego, Caterine. He also consulted leading physicists to further understand quantum physical reality. Russell says, "I have often wondered why it is that in today's many 'smart indie films' the characters often seem to struggle and lead these very dark existences, yet never have recourse to the mysterious traditions of investigating consciousness that have existed throughout human history. In our materialist culture, we have such a strong bias toward 'dark' stories in which everyone is just depressed and struggling and that's life. I think there should be other paradigms and opportunities."