It begins with a coincidence.
A Sudanese doorman, very tall, about 18, collects publicity shots of celebrities. Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman) runs into Sam - that's his name - three times.
Why?
Thus begins our mystery: David O. Russell's existential comedy "I Heart Huckabees." Except the mystery is no psychological thriller; instead, we'll call it a philosophical quest.
And our detectives are no ordinary Sherlock Holmes. Vivian and Bernard Jaffe (Lily Tomlin, Dustin Hoffman) uncover the clues to the meaning of life. In short, they believe in existentialism and the "blanket," symbolic of the reduction in importance of absolutely everything.
Albert, our primary quest-seeker, presides over an environmental charter and writes heartfelt but simply awful poetry with lines including "You rock, rock." The Jaffes attempt to center his focus, and in order to solve the case, they must follow him wherever he goes, including the bathroom. Clues can be found anywhere.
The tension between Albert and Brad (Jude Law) attracts the detectives to the workplace. Although Brad, a Huckabees Corporation climber, excuses Albert's resentment as an attraction to Dawn (Naomi Watts), his girlfriend and Huckabees spokeswoman, the anger lies deeper. Brad wants to take over the environmental charter to promote his self-hearted outer self and hardball inner style to the Huckabees executive board.
In the moment of conflict appears Albert's new sidekick, Tommy Corn (Mark Wahlberg). In the funniest role of Wahlberg's career, the petroleum activist firefighter shows Albert the "other side": nihilism under Caterine Vauban (Isabelle Huppert), an old student of the Jaffe's.
Thus appears the conflict of interest: Will the Jaffes or Vautan give up his or her philosophy for the sake of their clients? Perhaps the decision is no longer up to the detectives any longer. Albert and Tommy take matters into their own hands and handlebars, as they search for equilibrium between their two teachers.
