MovieChat Forums > I Heart Huckabees (2004) Discussion > Why is it that many critics of this movi...

Why is it that many critics of this movie don't understand the joke?

posted 14 years ago by chiliwaterboy
13 replies | jump to latest

It is completely OK to hate this movie, but many people really don't know what they are talking about when they call it 'pretentious', 'self-indulgent', etc... it's not to say that there is only one joke, but I think this would get a better rep if people got THE joke.

I'm surprised too... it reminds me of how people don't understand Natural Born Killers is about satirizing the media. It's pretty obvious for the most part.

Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.

[–] gallae 14 years ago

One person who's posted on this board apparently doesn't like it because it's not up to the standard of Fighter - another film made by the same director. Others seem to have been looking for philosophical gems in the film and get upset when they don't find them.

I thought the film was quite funny, but that's probably because I've done a bit of reading on different religions and philosophy.

Laura Ess

[–] lubin-freddy 14 years ago

Too many people criticized the film as not being deeper in its philosophical discussions. I loved the film. It's not philosophy, it's a movie, that deals in philosophical issues.

When your eyes are blind with tears
But your heart can see
Another life, another galaxy

[–] Orpheum-3 14 years ago

Rather, it's a movie about people grappling with philosophical issues instead of being about the issues, themselves.

[–] Blueghost 14 years ago

I hate to sound egotistical, but I think my review sums up the film. Appropriately. We're watching a film about a couple of emotionally distraught nut-cases who go through the most severe form of rehabilitation. In the end they come out of it calm and normal (in theory). It's not so much a comment on any aspect of society, so much as just some studio's risk of making a film about mental health, because hey, crazy people are always fun to watch.

[–] remaxx 14 years ago

This would have been "pretentious" and "self-indulgent" if there had been Jason Schwartzman and the others sitting on chairs and discussing philosophical issues. But the whole "no misery, no magic" idea (or anti-idea... whatever:) is beautifully conveyed in this movie... through acting, music, cinematography and script. The whole "knock yourself out" thing makes it - for me - both an existential feel-good movie and a cynical joke (anyway, why do these have to be antitheses)--- still don't get it why this is thought pretentious... only because it offers an explanation (which is offering nothing at all:)?

It's nihilism Bitches! Hilariously written and directed nihilism (if this is possible...:)

[–] negativeions101 14 years ago

I just think it's pseudo-intellectual *beep* and I didn't give a *beep* about the joke. Maybe it just wasn't that funny?? it's not that complicated

[–] chiliwaterboy 14 years ago

If you think it's pseudo-intellectual *beep* you're missing the joke completely. Like you are NOT GETTING IT. The movie uses philosophy as a facade, it hardly takes itself seriously at all.

Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.

[–] Live9 14 years ago

Hey I actually like the movie. I thought some parts where funny but I don't know much about philosophy, could you explain the 'main' joke for me? Thanks I actually want to know.

[–] chiliwaterboy 14 years ago

There's several jokes to it. The one that some critics got was the fact that the existential detectives have and have to keep repeating this insanity (they've seen the chaos many times before). The one that I'm referring to though is the joke that (while far-fetched for some, I believe the behind-the-scene footage confirms this) pokes fun at people searching for meaning in their lives. It is basically a ridiculous lampoon of pompous people, which is why it's incorrect to call it a pretentious movie considering that's the joke.

Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.

[–] Kartoffelkongen 14 years ago

I think many critics got that joke, but still considered the movie a bit pseudo-intellectual. And it is, even though it does makes fun of its own pretenses, it's still a shallow movie that doesn't have much real depth to it, and it feels like it's trying to be smarter than it really is. I didn't hate this movie, but I it didn't love it either, and for a comedy I thought it was OK, but nothing more. It's fun to watch at times, but the satire doesn't work that well, and it is a bit too prepostorous.

[–] iapetus39 13 years ago

When I first watched this film with my boyfriend, we paused the film about five or six times whenever one of us had a random thought. We talked about a lot of stuff the film talked about, a lot that the film didn't bring up, and even came to similar conclusions that the film itself did before we'd got to the end. However, I wouldn't say this film has anything new to say or that it does go very deep, just that it sparked deeper conversation.

I agree that it's mostly about the characters and their journeys. Just as each character has their own issue, so do the rest of us. Can't really cover all that to the max in 110 minutes, and even if they tried, it'd be a pretty boring comedy.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Dejay 8 years ago

I think the people who don't like this movie are the same people who also don't like poems and calls them pretentious and self-indulgent.