i heart david o. russell

I have a new favorite movie of 2004. It's called I Heart Huckabees.

The script is wonderful: fresh, hilarious, thought-provoking, fast-paced, and full of wonderful characters. It's better than any of the scripts up for 2004's Academy Award for Best Screenplay, even Kaufman's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Why were David O. Russell and Jeff Baena not nominated? Was there a quota of only one existential comedy nominee, and Eternal Sunshine won? Is The Incredibles better written than I Heart Huckabees? Or is it that there is zero overlap between the audiences for those two movies?

The acting is wonderful, tossing together some of the best character and leading actors and actresses of two generations. Jason Schwartzman, Mark Wahlberg, Lily Tomlin, Dustin Hoffman, Naomi Watts, and Jude Law all put in inspiring performances, aided by Isabelle Huppert, Tippi Hedren, Talia Shire, and Shania Twain. There should be a special Academy Award for Casting Director Mary Vernieu.

The score is wonderful, keeping us always in a playful, dreamy mood.

The direction is wonderful, expertly weaving in the "deconstruction" effects. To see how light Russell's touch is, compare these to the heavy-handed fantasy sequences in 2004's Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle.

So why has Eternal Sunshine gotten the awards and Garden State the publicity, but Huckabees nothing? Did it just go over people's heads? I mean, it's not that deep. Is it?