Though the characters of "I Heart Huckabees" are bizarre, the talented actors play their roles flawlessly. Unsurprisingly, the performances of Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin were especially outstanding. Hoffman and Tomlin play married "existentialist detectives" who have been in the business for 17 years. The duo's techniques for solving their clients' personal cases are hilarious and make "I Heart Huckabees" a must-see even if you're not interested in the philosophical ideas that are an integral part of the plot.
The detectives essentially never leave their clients alone, which creates an awkward situation for the viewer, who never gets to know the real characters of the clients. The detectives are like the annoying house guests who will not leave or determined sales people at your doorstep. But overall, they remind me of chatty parental figures who are looking out for their clients' best interests, frantically working to deliver answers and peace of mind. When they are not scribbling down information on their notebooks, dodging sprinklers, following their clients like paparazzi with headphones and listening to bugged rooms or rummaging through the trash, the pair, like walking self-help commercials, teach their clients how to live. Aside from being wonderfully outlandish and energetic, the detectives act as an amusing peanut gallery for the other characters. For example, when a character refers to the department store Huckabees in a moment of anger as "Fuckabees," Dustin Hoffman interjects with a hilarious "ooooooohhhhh."
The main character Albert, played by Jason Schwartzman, comes to the detectives because he recently had multiple encounters with a "tall African" in very different settings and wants to know what how these coincidences are related to his role in the universe. The detectives spy on Albert round the clock, watching him brush his teeth, ride his bike and eat breakfast. Although the duo adamantly oppose being referred to as therapists, some of their methods seem like radical new advances in the field. For example, they zip Albert in a body bag so he can confront the images he associates with himself and destroy them. The purpose of this is related to the "blanket theory" that the detectives use to explain life. This theory suggests that everything is the same even though we are all different; therefore, Albert needs to relinquish the things that separate him from everything else. Throughout the movie, the two detectives work to instill this different angle on the clients' perception of reality.
The main conflict of the movie arises when Albert is demoted from head of the coalition "Open Spaces," which aims to preserve natural habitat such as marshes and forests. Instead, an employee of a Target-esque department store called Huckabees takes over the coalition to selfishly impress his boss and receive a promotion. At this turning point, Albert refuses to listen to his detectives and follows the advice of his new quirky friend Tommy Corn, played by Mark Wahlberg. Tommy believes in the "other" existential view in which "sadness is what you are and there is no hope for improvement." He advises Albert to disconnect from reality, "walk in the pain," and become oblivious to suffering. Albert and his new friend decide to live like "dishes of mold," and they briefly embrace this rival view, crushing Dustin and Lily.
By the end of the movie, all the characters realize that both existential views are accurate. As Albert says conclusively, "One is too dark, and one is too good." I saw this conclusion as a downfall in the movie because they bluntly spell out the moral, leaving no room for mystery or personal opinions or sides. If the movie had been more open-ended, the audience would have had the opportunity to choose one or the other, embrace both or ignore them as meaningless, overly analytical views of life. While "I Heart Huckabees" may be more intellectually stimulating than the average movie, the directors and writers did not follow through to the very end; instead, any room for intellectual debate was destroyed by the neatly packaged ending.