I'd really been looking forward to seeing I Heart Huckabees because I think David O. Russell was brilliant with his work in Three Kings. Three Kings sucessfully works on so many levels, I'm just sort of awed every time I watch it.
Unfortunately, Russell shouldn't have reminded me of Three Kings so blatantly with a scene that included Mark Wahlberg babbling about petroleum with a cameo by Saïd Taghmaoui who played Capt. Saïd in Three Kings. You may remember him pouring the oil down Wahlberg's throat in that movie.
The reason being that Huckabees is pretty thin and sloppy compared to Three Kings. I understand that Huckabees was a project Russell wanted to do for a long time, but for me the film never really lives up to it's promise. The philosophy is pretty sophmoric and the comedy never quite takes off. For all it's odd premise of "existential detectives", the film is oddly conventional with it's story arc of a wacky environmentalist battling an evil corporation over a land development deal.
On the positive side, the cast is great and fun to watch--even when they're delivering thin material. Jude Law is terrific as a venal executive trying to claw his way to the top and Jason Schwartzman gives a solid performance as the goofy environmentalist. Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin are remarkably good as the existential detectives, despite the embaressing lines Russel puts in their mouths. I also became a solid Mark Wahlberg fan after Three Kings and he holds his own -- even with some very medocre dialogue. Isabelle Huppert looks really out of place in this film and is pretty much wasted. Naomi Watts is just plain cute, and she puts in a nice little performance as the obligatory ditzy blond.
With a lesser cast, this would be completely unwatchable, but as it stands there are worse ways to spend 106 minutes.
Unfortunately, Russell shouldn't have reminded me of Three Kings so blatantly with a scene that included Mark Wahlberg babbling about petroleum with a cameo by Saïd Taghmaoui who played Capt. Saïd in Three Kings. You may remember him pouring the oil down Wahlberg's throat in that movie.
The reason being that Huckabees is pretty thin and sloppy compared to Three Kings. I understand that Huckabees was a project Russell wanted to do for a long time, but for me the film never really lives up to it's promise. The philosophy is pretty sophmoric and the comedy never quite takes off. For all it's odd premise of "existential detectives", the film is oddly conventional with it's story arc of a wacky environmentalist battling an evil corporation over a land development deal.
On the positive side, the cast is great and fun to watch--even when they're delivering thin material. Jude Law is terrific as a venal executive trying to claw his way to the top and Jason Schwartzman gives a solid performance as the goofy environmentalist. Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin are remarkably good as the existential detectives, despite the embaressing lines Russel puts in their mouths. I also became a solid Mark Wahlberg fan after Three Kings and he holds his own -- even with some very medocre dialogue. Isabelle Huppert looks really out of place in this film and is pretty much wasted. Naomi Watts is just plain cute, and she puts in a nice little performance as the obligatory ditzy blond.
With a lesser cast, this would be completely unwatchable, but as it stands there are worse ways to spend 106 minutes.