There’s a difference between having a great cast in a film and a star studded cast. A star studded cast just means huge names without necessarily meaning quality (take the Arnold version of Batman for instance: Arnold, George, Uma, Chris). Then there are films with great casts, Ocean’s 11 for example. I Heart Huckabees definitely falls into the “Great Cast” category. Heck, put Dustin Hoffman in just about anything and I’ll see it, Jude Law is going to win an Oscar one day, Mark Wahlberg doesn’t get the credit he often deserves, Naomi Watts is going to be a HUGE name in the next couple of years, and so on and so on. So right off the bat Huckabees seems to have a lot going for it. Even the trailers look fantastic. So far the critics are generally enjoying what they’re seeing:
“a script akin to a late night dorm room debate among college philosophy majors who enjoy the wacky tobacky, but it’s a delightfully quirky and entertaining story”
— Willie Waffle, WAFFLEMOVIES.COM“A dizzying shout-out to those who believe there’s only one answer for everything, whether it be faith, political principles or love.”
— Erik Childress, EFILMCRITIC.COM“Clever but distancing, this existential comedy bounces along on the backs of its tasty cast, witty writing and stylistic verve.”
— David Rooney, VARIETY
Well… that all sounds good doesn’t it? Yeah, it’s going to be great right? Ok, here’s my one worry… Huckabees strikes me as the kind of movie that critics are SUPPOSED to say they like, cause they won’t look cool if they say it’s bad… know what I mean? Because it’s billed as an “existential comedy”, you’re automatically accused of just “not getting it” if you say you don’t like it. I HATE it when people do that… I say I don’t like a film that they love, and the first thing they say is “Oh, well you just don’t understand it then“! GRRRR!!!! Homicide seems like such an option at those times. The third Matrix movie sucked huge eggs (in my opinion), and all these people start yelling that i just didn’t “get” the film. Did they ever stop to consider that I did “get” it, and yet didn’t enjoy it? Anyway, I’m getting off track here.
The point is that Huckabees could very well turn out to be an amazing bit of film work… but I’m nervous. The reviews quoted above(even though positive) tend to make me think the critics are just writing what they feel they’re expected to write. But then I come across a review from Slant (which I really respect), and they say this:
“David O. Russell’s I Heart Huckabees is content to wallow in obscurantist quirk and flash.”
— Keith Uhlich, SLANT MAGAZINE
Hmmm… makes me worry that something funny is going on. It’s like we’re all already programed to say we like it… and if we don’t like it then it’s because they’re something wrong with us. I guess we’ll have to see for ourselves. I’m sceptical. If you’d like to see more Huckabees reviews head over to Rotten Tomatoes.
Not every reviewer likes Huckabees. Rex Reed went a little overboard, but I think he’s railing against “critical darlings,” too. Which is funny since…he’s a critic.
You can read it here: http://www.observer.com/pages/onthetown.asp