While I felt that I heart Huckabees really sucked, and I have not even finished watching it all yet (not sure if I will) it is a film about Buddhism. The woman vivian - in her following and noting all experiences, even the trivial, represents Sati - mindfulness. Many comments by her also attest to this such as "even the smallest thing might be the key to your case", and also her close relationship with Hoffman's character. He represents Samadhi - concentration meditation ("shut down your usual perceptions"), and thus is kissed by Sati when the patient enters concentration as mediation begins with mindfulness. The recurring theme, and the 'dark side' is the theme of Buddhism not being a nihalist religion as many suppose.

The patient does not want the 2 guides to come to the office as it would make him look unstable - i.e. appearing as a fruitcake for being into Buddhism and spirituality.

The "open space" theme is also a facet of Buddhism - open space being in the mind of one living for the present moment mindfulness. Notice too, the affect of Sati on the worldly representations such as Naomi Watts character who loses inspiration in the worldly illusion when ever Sati is around.

The patients "other" represents the emotional side of the person, and the way in which it deludes and leads astray, hence is called "reptillian".

The list of analogies goes on and on - I can post them all if there is interest. But anyway, the movie is, IMO, not just having a few connections, but a direct attempt to portray Buddhism in much the way that Lewis Carroll portrayed his insights.

The movie still sucked in my view, but thought I would bring it up.

Is it interesting enough to make it worth renting? I missed it in the theatres but wasn't aware of the buddhist angle to it.

cv

Actually, I wouldn't think it interesting enough to rent. It does not offer any inspiration, nor interesting insights. It's pretty slapdash, and shallow, IMO.

But I am sharing it in the Thai File Share hub if you want to download it.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching I Heart Huckabees. I felt it was funny and entertaining, and it was a nice exercise for me to find all of the Buddhist links. I did not realize it was a movie about Buddhism until I watched it, though. If I had known, I may have had higher expectations and not enjoyed it as much. Anyway, if you like movies and you like Buddhism, I recommend watching it.

Vendue2