A self-described "existential comedy", I Heart Huckabees follows a pair of detectives (Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin) hired to investigate the meaning of the life of their clients (Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Mark Wahlberg and Naomi Watts).

As the different investigations cross paths, their rival and nemesis (Isabelle Huppert) tries to drag their clients into her own views on the meaning of their lives.

Dawn Campbell is Brad's live-in girlfriend and the face and voice of Huckabees, appearing in all the store's ads.

They offer him their optimistic brand of existentialism — they call it universal interconnectivity (combining romantic and transcendentalist philosophies) — and spy on him, ostensibly to help him solve the coincidence.

In the subsequent days, Brad and Dawn rethink their entire lives; she rejects the modeling world, looking for deeper meaning, while he realizes his whole ascent up the corporate ladder is meaningless, for he has focused his whole life on trying to please others and not himself.

Albert attains a sort of enlightenment when he synthesizes the two opposing outlooks of the Jaffes and Caterine, to realize the cosmic truth of everything.

Albert reveals to him that the fire started when he burned Brad's jet skis, and it spread to the rest of the house.

Before directing his first feature, Spanking the Monkey, Russell intended to make a film "about a guy who sits in the back of a Chinese restaurant with microphones on every table to surreptitiously listen to everybody's conversations, then write perversely personal fortunes for each of the people".

His methods for writing his previous film scores (Punch-Drunk Love and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) involved very close collaboration with the director.

I Heart Huckabees opened in a limited release October 1, 2004, earning $292,177, and ranking number 24 in the weekend's box office.

[16] The film was granted a wide release three weeks later on October 22, earning $2,902,468, and ranking tenth at the box office.

Some critics were displeased with the existential subject matter, and said the script was unfocused, while others celebrated its performances (especially Wahlberg's) and originality.

The site's consensus states: "I Heart Huckabees certainly isn't for everyone, but audiences attuned to its quirky wavelength will find a singularly brainy screwball comedy that refuses to pander.