In the world of movies that start arguments, "In the Company of Men" is a singular achievement. Women find it hateful; men find it embarrassing — the most common word everyone uses is "disturbing."

This was the movie people were talking about up and down Main Street during the Sundance Film Festival in January. It's a creepy piece of work that gets under your skin, ruffles your sensibilities and just won't leave you alone.

Eight months later, it's still vivid and roiling in my mind. It will make you think, and, especially if you are a man, you may not like some of the self-examination it provokes.

Like most first-time, low-budget efforts, "In the Company of Men" has its deficiencies, mostly on a technical level — the camera work is too static, the lighting is poor, and the staging is sometimes awkward. And yet, all of this has the effect of making you pay attention to the dialogue, and that's the point.

You are not likely to see a more challenging movie this year — or perhaps this decade. Writer-director Neil LaBute received the coveted Filmmakers' Trophy from his fellow directors-in-competition at Sundance. What he really deserved was the screenwriting award.

Crafted with an unparalleled fierce, single-minded authority by the former BYU student, "In the Company of Men" tells the story of two men who set out to woo, win and then deliberately break the heart of a fragile woman over the course of a six-week business assignment in an unnamed city.

Why? Because they've been hurt by women in the past, and they want some kind of broad-based revenge on womankind.

Of course, the instigator is the better-looking, more macho of the two, a cad named Chad (played by Aaron Eckhart, also a former BYU student). His "friend," milquetoast Howard (Matt Malloy) — who is apparently, nominally Chad's boss — goes along simply to prove himself.

The woman they choose is a sweet, pretty secretary (Stacy Edwards) in the office where they are temporarily assigned. She is also deaf . . . not that it makes their quest at all daunting to them.

The plot is about as mean-spirited and nasty as they come, but LaBute doesn't stop there. He carries it to its logical and equally foul conclusion, which is why so many audiences around the country are in a quandary about it. It's an old problem, of course. Simply stated, can you make a movie about sexism and not make a sexist movie?

In some corners, "In the Company of Men" is being decried as misogynous, and that's understandable on a surface level, since it certainly describes the film's lead characters — especially Chad. But the film is more an indictment of men with its unflinching view of sexist male camaraderie. Like it or not, in varying degrees, we've all been in the company of these men.

The performances by the three leads are excellent, especially Edwards, who is not really deaf, and Eckhart, who is (we hope) not really this hateful. (Eckhart's character is also racist and quite cruel — not just to women, but to everyone.)

In the end, however, it is LaBute who will take the praise — and the grief — for what he has accomplished here.

Is the film difficult? Yes. Is it troubling? Yes. But is it artful? Absolutely.

OK. Here it is. We've been complaining about all the dreck we've had to endure this summer, now let's see if we'll put up our box-office bucks for a stark drama with something to say.

"In the Company of Men" is rated R for profanity, vulgarity and implied sex.