'I Heart Huckabees' provides absurd romp and welcome relief

For anyone bummed (or devastated, as I was) about the happenings of last Tuesday evening — or down for any other reason, "I Heart Huckabees" offers quite a bit of cheer and some firm advice to lighten up.

In the latest absurd romp from the slightly bizarre but masterful David O. Russell (writer and director of "Three Kings" and "Flirting with Disaster") an utterly incoherent plot, astoundingly intricate comedy and a palpably self-critical sense of humor make this movie both endearing and enlightening.

It would be terribly callous and arrogant to attempt a summary of the plot of this film, which is so conspicuously absent. For the traditional, delineated story line of most films, Russell substitutes a bizarre assemblage of stereotypical characters played by brilliant actors, outrageous scene set ups, clichés exaggerated even beyond the realm of satire, and a brand of all-too-clever comedy that is delicious, if sometimes lost in its own complexity. Among the entertaining cast is the protagonist, a self-searching, crusading, liberal-artistic type Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman of "Rushmore" and "S1m0ne"); an uninhibited older couple (Dustin Hoffman of "Rainman" and "Tootsie" and Lily Tomlin of "Orange County" and "Tea with Mussolini") who work as "existential detectives," investigating the philosophical conundrums of others and prescribing a series of wonderfully trite and touchy-feely remedies; an absurdly charming and grossly superficial sales executive for a horribly exploitative and bourgeois chain store "Huckabees," Brad Stand (Jude Law of "Cold Mountain" and "AI: Artificial Intelligence"); a hopelessly dark and nihilistic, yet sexually rapacious and passionate, French-beyond-belief philosopher and arch-nemesis of the existential detectives Catherine Vauban (Isabelle Huppert of "La Vie Promise" and "8 Femmes"); Brad's beautiful model girlfriend and the "voice of Huckabees," the angry and self-involved Dawn Campbell (Naomi Watts of "21 Grams" and "The Ring"); and a violent fireman turned obsessive campaigner against petroleum and distressed student of philosophy, Tommy Corn (Mark Wahlberg of "The Motorcycle Diaries" and "Three Kings").

The film is nearly sui generis, at least among films that have achieved wide-release in the United States. For admirers of innovative, playful modern authors like Thomas Pynchon or Tom Stoppard, this film will be just what was missing from the recent cinematic scene. Flitting from one indescribably absurd situation to another in a dreamlike daze, the film evokes endless laughter and quite a bit of thought, as well. An all-star cast, a great cinematic eye on the part of Russell and his veteran cinematographer Peter Deming ("Mulholland Dr." and "Austin Powers"), and an enormous budget for a film of its kind make for a wonderful technical production, as well. All in all, this is a delightful film that will not only give any stressed Princetonian a deserved dose of cheer, but might also cause some to challenge their assumptions and take themselves a bit less seriously. For those looking for excellent entertainment, the film shows at the Princeton Garden Theatre in town at 12:15, 2:15, 4:30, 7, and 9:30 p.m. on weekends and 6:45 and 9:15 p.m. on weekdays for $6.50 with a prox.