"I ¤ Huckabees" is, without question, the weirdest movie of the year — an existential madcap comedy that's as much a venture into philosophy as it is entertainment. It can be very funny in places and flat-out frustrating in others.

But it's continually interesting and packed full of ideas and strong performances.

None of this should come as a surprise given that the picture is directed by David O. Russell, who made "Flirting With Disaster" and "Three Kings," two equally offbeat movies. The latter found a mainstream audience and stands as the best movie about the first Gulf War — not a great distinction but a distinction nonetheless.

Summarizing the haywire plot of "I ¤ Huckabees" is a near impossible task. But here's a basic outline:

Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman of "Rushmore" fame) is an environmentalist do-gooder, control freak and bad poet who is being haunted by odd run-ins with a very tall Sudanese (Ger Duany). To get to the bottom of his problem, he hires existential detectives Vivian and Bernard Jaffe (Lily Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman, complete with Beatles haircut).

In their first meeting, Bernard zips Albert into a black bag, and Albert has visions of "hating faces that I have to chop up with a machete."

Among them is Brad Stand (Jude Law), a marketing executive at the Huckabees department store chain who is scheming to force Albert out of the leadership of the Open Spaces Coalition so he can build a store in a protected woodlands.

All of this becomes clear as Vivian and Bernard follow Albert everywhere — literally everywhere — and record his actions, hoping to find out the  nature of his troubles. But Bernard gets called off the case by an equally troubled client, fireman Tommy Corn (Mark Wahlberg), who's worried about petroleum depletion and slips a gear when his female partner leaves him.

Soon enough, the Jaffes pair Albert and Tommy in a wacko buddy system. That, however, leads to real trouble when the Jaffes' sultry rival and philosophical opposite Caterine Vaubon (Isabelle Huppert) turns up on the scene.

Before things are over, Brad and his girlfriend, Huckabees spokesmodel Dawn Campbell (Naomi Watts), have signed up with the detectives, and the wacky picture spins toward a tie-it-all-together conclusion.

All this is done with manic energy and visual verve — the picture literally falls apart and starts floating around a few times. It also comes packed with more metaphysical conundrums than Philosophy 101 presents to your average college freshman.

That approach has been maddening to some who have seen the film. I've talked to several New Yorkers who went to the movie and hated it. But just as many have found it weirdly compelling. And the philosophy isn't all that difficult. It starts with basic Buddhism and adds some Western twists.

It helps that there are some highly entertaining performances. Hoffman's a delightful goof, Law parodies his pretty boy image and Wahlberg turns on his star power playing a regular guy who spends much of the movie hitting himself in the head with a large rubber ball.

Schwartzman is Woody Allenesque as the baffled Albert and has a great scene with his real-life mom, Talia Shire, who plays his mother in the movie.

"I ¤ Huckabees" doesn't have enough focus to be a great picture. But it's pretty good and awfully weird, and there's nothing wrong with a strange picture that makes you think.

Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.

 I ¤ Huckabees

***

Director: David O. Russell.

Stars: Jason Schwartzman, Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Jude Law

Rated: R (for profanity, nudity, brief sex scenes)

Now Showing: SouthPointe

The Reel Story: Schwartzman hires existential detectives to try to solve his problems in the year's strangest, most philosophical comedy.