This review originally appeared on the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation’s “Roll Film” movie review site (http://www.biketraffic.org/content.php?id=219_0_6_0). Each film was also reviewed by my CBF colleague, Greg Borzo, who focused more on the bike content.
I HEART HUCKABEES
3 Wheels
I ♥ Huckabees is a very particular film. Its subject matter and tone will be appealing to some and alienating to others. I would guess that even those it may appeal to might need to be in a particular mood to enjoy it. I was in the right mood and was able to go along with the quirkiness and found it funny and engaging.
Among other things, it's about existential philosophy, which makes it, by definition, pretentious. This is not necessarily a bad thing because the filmmakers so thoroughly commit to this vision. The result is a bit of a mess, but unless they pulled Apocalypse Now out of their hats, this was an inevitable result of making a comedy study of the meaning of life.
Jason Schwartzman plays an open spaces activist fighting the giant Huckabees retail corporation over a tract of land targeted for development. He is consistently thwarted by the industry giant represented by a shallow spokescouple (Naomi Watts and Jude Law). Trying to understand his place in the universe, Schwartzman hires two "existential detectives" played by Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin.
Much philosophic musings follow, dealing with coincidences and the interconnectedness of the universe or lack thereof—some are thought provoking, but nothing you can't get in a freshman year college course.
For all its pretensions, I ♥ Huckabees succeeds because of its quick timing and appealing performances. Hoffman and Tomlin provide some of the funniest moments when their "detective" work requires them to spy on their subjects, yet they always seem to be in plain sight.
An unexpected surprise can also be found in Mark Wahlberg's debut as a character actor. Wahlberg has actually been in some fine films (Boogie Nights, Three Kings), but he's usually a straightforward lead, responding to other actors. Here, Wahlberg's fireman in crisis is a fresh character who manages to steal every scene he is in.
I ♥ Huckabees was directed by David O. Russell, who continues his streak of never making the same film twice. Russell's first film was a coming-of-age incest drama called Spanking the Monkey. His follow up, Flirting with Disaster, was a very funny and less disturbing look at dysfunctional families. His best film, by far, remains the Gulf War treasure hunt thriller, Three Kings.
With I ♥ Huckabees, Russell does a strange thing. He seems to have adopted the timing and style of another young director, Wes Anderson. Aside from using Schwartzman, best known from Anderson's Rushmore, Russell adopts the same underplayed deadpan humor that made Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums such a joy. The basic idea is to have the actors looking deadly serious in ridiculous situations—which does lead to some big laughs.
There's plenty of bicycle content to go around. As environmental idealists, Schwartzman and company consistently choose bikes as their mode of transport. A key scene also features the Wahlberg character racing his bike against a fire engine. It's not entirely clear, however, whether the filmmakers are admiring or mocking this idealism. It's probably best not to think too hard about it and just enjoy the ride.
I HEART HUCKABEES
3 Wheels
I ♥ Huckabees is a very particular film. Its subject matter and tone will be appealing to some and alienating to others. I would guess that even those it may appeal to might need to be in a particular mood to enjoy it. I was in the right mood and was able to go along with the quirkiness and found it funny and engaging.
Among other things, it's about existential philosophy, which makes it, by definition, pretentious. This is not necessarily a bad thing because the filmmakers so thoroughly commit to this vision. The result is a bit of a mess, but unless they pulled Apocalypse Now out of their hats, this was an inevitable result of making a comedy study of the meaning of life.
Jason Schwartzman plays an open spaces activist fighting the giant Huckabees retail corporation over a tract of land targeted for development. He is consistently thwarted by the industry giant represented by a shallow spokescouple (Naomi Watts and Jude Law). Trying to understand his place in the universe, Schwartzman hires two "existential detectives" played by Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin.
Much philosophic musings follow, dealing with coincidences and the interconnectedness of the universe or lack thereof—some are thought provoking, but nothing you can't get in a freshman year college course.
For all its pretensions, I ♥ Huckabees succeeds because of its quick timing and appealing performances. Hoffman and Tomlin provide some of the funniest moments when their "detective" work requires them to spy on their subjects, yet they always seem to be in plain sight.
An unexpected surprise can also be found in Mark Wahlberg's debut as a character actor. Wahlberg has actually been in some fine films (Boogie Nights, Three Kings), but he's usually a straightforward lead, responding to other actors. Here, Wahlberg's fireman in crisis is a fresh character who manages to steal every scene he is in.
I ♥ Huckabees was directed by David O. Russell, who continues his streak of never making the same film twice. Russell's first film was a coming-of-age incest drama called Spanking the Monkey. His follow up, Flirting with Disaster, was a very funny and less disturbing look at dysfunctional families. His best film, by far, remains the Gulf War treasure hunt thriller, Three Kings.
With I ♥ Huckabees, Russell does a strange thing. He seems to have adopted the timing and style of another young director, Wes Anderson. Aside from using Schwartzman, best known from Anderson's Rushmore, Russell adopts the same underplayed deadpan humor that made Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums such a joy. The basic idea is to have the actors looking deadly serious in ridiculous situations—which does lead to some big laughs.
There's plenty of bicycle content to go around. As environmental idealists, Schwartzman and company consistently choose bikes as their mode of transport. A key scene also features the Wahlberg character racing his bike against a fire engine. It's not entirely clear, however, whether the filmmakers are admiring or mocking this idealism. It's probably best not to think too hard about it and just enjoy the ride.
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