Existential Entertainment

Far too quiet since his last brilliant film Three Kings, director David O'Russell is making his long-awaited return to the director's chair with a comedy on existentialism - and he's got bucketloads of stars lining up to work with him. With no less than Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Whalberg, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin and Catherine Deneuve all waiting in the wings to star in the flick, O'Russell has not only co-written the unusual project but placed himself in the producer's hot seat too. Crowbarring the work of brainy frog Jean Paul Sartre into a Hollywood comedy obviously holds no fear for Russell, whose previous films include the tragi-comic Spanking the Monkey and farcical road movie Flirting with Disaster. "It's an ensemble comedy centering around a married couple," Russell clarified to Variety. "They are detectives who solve existential crises for people." Provisionally called I Love Huckabee's, Russell remained tightlipped about the true significance of his rather bizarre title, presumably letting the cat out of the existential bag once Gwynnie et al have duly signed on.