This is the first in what will hopefully be a regular series, since going to the theater is one of the few things I do regularly. This was actually a slow week for movies--nothing I really care to watch came out this weekend--but I did watch a movie on DVD that I'd never seen before, so how about I tell you about that?
I Heart Huckabees (2004)
Things haven't been all right with me for the last, well, half-year or so. Back in late November I had a painful break-up with my long-time boyfriend--initially mutual, but though the blast radius seemed small, over time the fallout spread a lot wider than anyone could have predicted. I am still dealing with a not-insignificant amount of unpleasantness as a result. It was with the understanding of my situation that a friend of mine recommended I Heart Huckabees. And it was a great choice.
This is a film about existential crisis, about feeling adrift and alone in the world, and those times when you're watching your life fall to pieces around you and there's nothing you can do about it. It's about using suffering to find connection and meaning in the meaninglessness of life. Perhaps counterintuitively, it's also quite funny. It's not afraid to ridicule its characters, who are all, in their own ways, a little broken, a little lost, and a little ridiculous.
I can't really speak for the film's merits for those who have never felt like they're trapped helpless in the downward spiral of life (I'd have to watch it again sometime when I wasn't upset), but if you're close enough to the right situation, this is one of those movies that resonates. It was comforting, reassuring me in a way words alone never could that, even in the most miserable chaos of life, everything will be okay. "If nothing's okay, it's okay." And that was exactly what I needed to hear.
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