I Heart Huckabees

I watched a rather entertaining film the other day called "I Heart Huckabees", written and directed by David O. Russell and before anyone jumps to any conclusions, no is not a romantic comedy.

It's actually defined as a philosophical comedy and as many would deem this pretentious, it's actually not. I must admit I was fairly skeptical when I saw the genre title but the plot intrigued me.

It focuses on a young man (Jason Schwartzman) who is head of an environmental group who decides to hire two "existential detectives" to help him understand the meaning behind these coincidental meetings he has with an African man. However, their optimistic philosophy and unconventional tactics begin to dissuade the protagonist who then ventures into a nihilistic realm.

Personally, I found it to be a great film where it successfully manages to present a number of existenial ideals ranging from the meaning of life, happiness, identity in a humorous fashion. Half-satirical and half-serious, many critics felt it was too "existential" and lacking in any concrete plot direction. To be fair, it does seem messy at times and slightly lacking in direction yet it works. When taking this into account, the film could be one big metaphor for life, where it is not always organized and specific pathways are irregularly clear. Then again, it could be a metaphor for the ridiculousness of man's insatiable quest to find meaning in our everyday.

The best way I could describe the film is from the writer himself who claimed: "Here's how I would describe it to the people who financed the movie: Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin are existential detectives who you could hire to investigate the meaning of your life. They are formal, they wear suits, they are Paris-trained, their clients include Jude Law, Naomi Watts, Jason Schwartzman and Mark Wahlberg. Their ostensible nemesis is Isabelle Huppart. Hilarity ensues".

You can argue that the meaning of this meaning of this film is dependent on subjectivity and, cleverly enough, if it is one massive metaphor for existence, then that's what it's all about.