The Importance of Self and I ♥ Huckabees

David O. Russell, director of the Three Kings, has also written and directed the film, I Heart Huckabees. The article I linked to, “Believe the Hype? I Heart Huckabees.” by Tim Grierson, briefly describes Russell’s interest in directing films with themes about how individuals are isolated from society and are responsible for their own actions. Grierson explains, “David O. Russell understands lost souls…” and continues that, “Russell bases his stories around frustrated men, burdened by ennui, and then thrusts them into a slightly bizarre plot in which the characters eventually work through their angst.” According to Grierson, another stylistic method Russell uses is how he “has always held his protagonist’s arm at length…” to intentionally distance the characters in order to evoke curiosity in the audience. Besides the common themes appearing in Russell’s films, Grierson also mentions that Russell included a well-known cast in I Heart Huckabees and an “off-kilter Jon Brion score to create a highly stylized version of our world.” The author compares the distinct style of combining a familiar cast, abnormal musical score, and themes about the self in I Heart Huckabees to the atmosphere and tone of Punch-Drunk Love. Grierson discusses that I Heart Huckabees is an existentialist film where investigators team up with the main character, Albert, to search for what makes one’s life unhappy, and along the way, encounter some unusual characters. In Grierson’s own viewing of the film, he admits that at some points in the movie, he was taken aback and did not know whether or not to “laugh or cry.” Therefore, Grierson believes that Russell’s emphasis on the theme of existentialism allows audiences to watch I Heart Huckabees in a comedic manner which digs into the underlying meaning behind how people behave and respond to the world around them.