I Love Huckabees (2004)

A fresh, buoyant, mischievous and rather jolly meditation - if that's the word for a movie as divinely nuts as this one is - on the meaning of life in an unhappy world.

A lot of people are going to describe it as a waste of time, yet there's a likeability to the quirky characters that held my interest while tickling my funny bone.

Clever but distancing, this existential comedy bounces along on the backs of its tasty cast, witty writing and stylistic verve.

There's more than a bit of Charlie Kaufman to the heady premise, although the scenario doesn't double back on itself--except perhaps in the joke of having Schwartzman's actual mother, Talia Shire, play his mother on-screen.

Despite the unique premise and some truly inspired casting, the picture remains stuck in an existential rut of its own.