Movie Review Friday: I ♥ Huckabees

Escape to the movies with one of our Movie Review Friday selections. Each week we review a film with an environmental theme that's currently in theaters or available on DVD. Seen a good eco-flick lately? Send us a short review and look for it in the next Movie Review Friday.

I ♥ Huckabees (2004)

Available on DVD

Jason Schwartzman stars in I ♥ Huckabees as poet and environmental field organizer Albert Markovski. Albert hires a pair of “existential detectives,” played by Lily Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman, to investigate a series of coincidences he experiences, but instead the two make it their mission to help Albert discern the meaning of his life. They introduce him to another of their clients, Tommy Corn (Mark Wahlberg), a fireman so concerned with “the deadly petroleum issue” that he bikes rather than rides with his brigade in the fire truck. Another member of the extensive ensemble cast is Brit Jude Law, who plays his character, Brad Stand, with an atrocious American accent. Brad is an executive at Huckabees, the big-box department store threatening to destroy the woods and marsh that Albert tries steadfastly to protect.

Directed by David Russell, I ♥ Huckabees serves existentialism as the main course with a side of environmentalism. Albert’s antics evoke the practices of some real-life eco-activists: At one point he pledges to chain himself to a bulldozer to prevent the destruction of open spaces.

We usually enjoy cult classics that tackle environmental issues, but in this case, though the subject matter is unique, the plot is so convoluted that any interesting aspect gets lost in the tedious dialogue and interminable parade of characters.

--Sophie Matson