'Huckabees' an exercise in existentialism

David O. Russell is one weird dude. After making his directorial debut with the icky incest comedy "Spanking the Monkey," Russell made two of the '90s most underrated flicks in the forms of a trippy road movie ("Flirting with Disaster") and an eerily prescient Gulf War satire ("Three Kings"). Now comes "I Heart Huckabees," Russell's most bizarre effort to date, which isn't damning in spite of being daunting. Think: a film for smart people with a stupid streak.\n"Huckabees" is, as Russell has stated numerous times in interviews, an existential comedy. What exactly this meant prior to entering the theater I didn't know. Upon seeing the movie things were illuminated. "Huckabees" is an all-star satire in which its protagonists seek answers to life's coincidences and conundrums. \nForemost among these folks is Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman, in his best performance since "Rushmore"), a wannabe poet and figurehead of the environmentalist Open Spaces Coalition. Bothered by random run-ins with a 7-foot-tall African doorman and an ongoing feud with ladder-climbing Huckabees superstore exec Brad Stand (the appropriately smarmy Jude Law), Albert hires the Jaffe's, Bernard (Dustin Hoffman, sporting a Beatle-esque mop top) and Vivian (Lily Tomlin). The Jaffe's are a married, existential detective duo who help their clients in examining life by way of meditation and omnipresent surveillance. Also thrown into the mix are environmentally-conscious yet-hotheaded-firefighter Tommy Corn (a hilarious Mark Wahlberg), Brad's Huckabees spokesmodel girlfriend, Dawn Campbell (the gorgeous yet appropriately vapid Naomi Watts) and Caterine Vauban (Isabelle Huppert), the Jaffes' nihilistic counterpart replete with a business card reading, "cruelty, manipulation, meaninglessness."\n"Huckabees" is an audacious film to be sure. In all likelihood it's just too damned big for its britches. By juggling issues from crass commercialism to right-wing Christianity (both of which receive an upturned middle finger) to life itself, ideas are often addressed and then discarded without being fully hammered home. That Russell finds time to include a wigged Law breastfeeding Schwartzman and a scuzzy woods-based sex scene amid the abstraction brings forth equal parts horror and hilarity. Though, it's in these off-kilter moments that "Huckabees" takes flight, as its more philosophical passages, i.e. characters breaking apart into mere molecules while discussing said process, smack of pretentiousness. \nSee "I Heart Huckabees" for the performances, especially Wahlberg's, which further reveals the actor as a capable comic presence. (There should be some sort of rule that Marky Mark will work with Russell and Paul Thomas Anderson alone, as these guys seem to bring out the best in him.) Also, the flick's worth checking out if for nothing else than to hear Jon Brion's gorgeous score. Between this and his previous work in "Magnolia," "Punch-Drunk Love" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," Brion's becoming one of the best composers in the biz. Just don't see "I Heart Huckabees" with the preconception that it will change your life, though, it may accentuate it. Nothing more, nothing less.