Rating: 
Summary: Constantly surprising, imaginative, and hilarious.
Review: Being John Malkovich casts a spell of enchantment over its viewers by creating its own wacky world, with its completely strange characters and out-of-kilter rules, and then remaining absolutely true to that world. You get a big, wonderful surprise every five minutes; the "Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich" scene alone is worth the price of a rental! John Malkovich himself was robbed when he didn't get a Best Actor or Supporting Actor nomination, but considering the sheer glorious weirdness of this movie, I must bow to the Academy for breaking its usual bonds and actually giving this film nominations for Best Director, Screenplay and Supporting Actress. If you're adventurous at all in your moviegoing tastes, this movie is for you.
Rating:
Summary: Ever want to be someone else?
Review: This has got to be the single most weirdest film that I have ever seen. It is in my opinion the third best film of 1999; only American Beauty and The Green Mile top the brilliance that IS Being John Malkovich. The Sixth Sense comes in a close fourth. This film explores the self in a way I've never seen in a movie before. I recommend this film to anyone smart enough to understand it.
Rating:
Summary: ARTISTIC, ORIGINAL AND BEAUTIFUL
Review: I went in to this film not really knowing what I was going to see, I came out not really knowing what I had seen. All I know is that this was one of the most original, artistic and maybe even one of the most beautiful films that I have ever seen. From the moment the opening credits have finished their duty, you are thrown into the surreal world of Craig Shwartz an out of work puppet master, shunned by a society who no longer appreciate his forgotten art. Money is tight and Craig is forced to find work beyond the realms of puppetry, his skilfull hands make him the perfect candidate for a postition as a filing clerk. His new work place is located on the 7 1/2 floor of a tower building. This is when surreal makes way for the outright bizarre and the movie begins to reveal its real charm. The 7 1/2 floor is located between the 7th and 8th floor and is half the height of the other floors. A series of events (the finding of a door which leads in to John Malkovich's mind is just one of many) follow which all culminate to make wonderful entertainment which is way superior in intelligence to the normal churn of Hollwood movies. Don't get me wrong I am a great fan of all types of movies and Art House style films aren't usually my kind'a thing that is what is so surprising about this movie, it is there for everybody to enjoy. It is non conformist, I can't decide what genre this is, but maybe that is why it is so appealing. It offers something so different that everybody who sees it at least enjoys its uniqueness. I don't want to reveal too much about the film because not knowing only makes this film better. I will say though that the cast are brilliant. John Cusack is outstanding in his role as Shwartz, and Cameron Diaz is hilarious as his wife, believe me you have never seen Diaz like this before. Catherine Keener plays Maxine, and is brilliant in the role of a vixen seductress. But the real hero here is Spike Jonze the director, he keeps the film flowing and gives it continuity which must have been a very complex task. And, oh yes I also said that the film was beautiful, this has largely to do with the use of some wonderful puppetry. It is used on various occasions to parody the emotions of Shwartz, and gives a better understanding to what the film is trying to achieve. The Dvd presentation is somewhat dissapointing for a movie that begs so much more. Many of the extras which it promises on the dvd sleeve are no more than highlights from the film. There is however a short, but insightful, interview with the man behind the puppetry. I hope that someday a more comprehensive release such as a criterion edition will be released. But for now we simply have to make do with one of the most intriguing and involving films of our time. Enjoy
Rating: 
Summary: Worth the watch, but a strange animal nonetheless
Review: I hadn't heard a lot of the hype for or against this movie, but the idea sounded interesting, so I rented it. I had really no preconceived notions of what the movie should be. Which seems, from some of these reviews, to be a good thing. I wound up watching it twice, once alone and once with my wife. Both times it went along swiftly and did not drag ... so much for those criticisms. There's just enough inventiveness in this movie to keep it going, and yet avoid collapsing on itself. A lot of the credit for that, I think, goes to the actors. In the wrong hands the characters could easily come across as stereotypes or weird for their own sake, but Diaz, Cusack and Keener especially pull through. The script, too, knows when to shift gears, particularly from the parodistic humor of the orientation video (a really dead-on spoof, mirrored at the end by the A&E documentary spoof - perfect!) to the Office Space-style workplace cynicism, to my favorite moment in the film: Diaz and Cusack both jump on Keener at the same time. The ride through Malkovich's subconscious is also deranged, but there have been similar sequences in other movies. I don't see the film as a commentary on celebrity since Malkovich isn't (one of the running jokes) as well-known and recognized as, say, Bruce Willis would be. I think the producers were exploring existential themes, but the main flaw of the movie is they do too much exploring and not enough concluding. Issues are raised but never really much more than that. Still, the ending is haunting ... Craig, a pathetic ... really, willing to spend another lifetime watching his lover through the eyes of her daughter, and then the surreal shots of Emily splashing around in the water with that weird Bjork music. There was a sadness there.
Rating:
Summary: Most Original Screenplay
Review: Being John Malkovich is the most original and entertainig movie of 1999. I will join Ebert in giving it a thumbs up. I will aslo join Ebert in calling it my favorite movie of 1999. Roger Ebert is known for viewing and reviewing many pictures over our time. And 1999 was no different for the reviewer. However he can only make one movie his best picture of 1999, and that was Being John Malkovich. If it is good enough for Roger and Me than it's good enough for you. Sorry Michael Moore about the Roger and Me pun. I don't want to say much about this film other than it is very original and tightly written. I could not find any holes in the movie. It's a movie full of forshadowing and full of symbols. So free your mind of any thought, and sit down and pop in Being John Malkovich, and enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: I Don't Even Know What to Think
Review: WOAH this movie is crazy. very hard to gather, but you just have to stick with it and say WHAAATTT? just about every 10 minutes. they should seriously check the mental stability of the guy that actually thought and wrote this insanity up. i gave 3 stars because i dont know weather to laugh or cry. buckle your seatbelts and ps- john malkovich was great in 'in mice of men' and 'in the line of fire'
Rating:
Summary: Malkovich...Malkovich...Malkovich
Review: Spike Jonze's debut is one of those strange little unclassifiable movies that come along once in a while. A beautifully surreal, black comedy that plays its increasingly bizarre premise straight-faced. And surely, a contender for the most original plot of all time. Craig Schwartz is a struggling street puppeteer who gains employment to help finance his talents on the mysterious Floor 7 1/2 (with - quite literally - low overheads). It is here, behind an office filing cabinet, he discovers a strange portal that leads into (wait for it) the brain of John Malkovich (playing himself). Out for a quick buck, discovering that whoever crawls through the doorway becomes the eponymous actor for 15 minutes before being unceremoniously ejected out onto the side of some New Jersey turnpike, Schwartz devises the ultimate 'experience', selling trips into the actor's head for $200. If this isn't weird enough, the plot convolutes further to accommodate such elements as lesbian love trysts, love triangles (or rather quadrangles), gender disorientation, chimpanzee childhood trauma flashbacks and even Malkovich entering his own self Malkovich's portrayal of his private off-screen self is self-effacingly superb, and perhaps the bravest performance to ever grace celluloid; at once, campy, effete, conceited. The restaurant scene touches on genius. As if Woody Allen (circa: The Purple Rose of Cairo) had scripted the original Twilight Zone series, this is a movie of equal parts comedy and tragedy. The dialogue is sharp, witty; the deeply flawed characters, fully realised (if not identifiable), spiralling out of control towards an inevitable but creepily effective denouement. Most of the film's power, however, derives from its realistic approach to such a ludicrous idea. Its internal logic and cod-psychology remain intact and wholly believable. Being John Malkovich, although of an acquired taste, is an undeniably unique and unpredictable voyage of cinema fantasy. And for much less than $200.
Rating:
Summary: Ho-Hum
Review: This might just be the most overated movie of 1999. I admit I was so eager to rent the movie on the advice of critics whose advice I admire, maybe that is why I felt so let down. The acting was great, and the premise was incredibly creative. However, the story meanderd aimlessly, and at points I started to really dislike the pathetic characters that evolved. The ending was a classic "anti-ending", it left me feeling cheated. Even my art school wife found the movie somewhat pointless, and she usually eats up this type of existential gibberish. I would have given it 3-1/2 stars, but this rating system doesn't allow it. Not a bad movie to watch, just don't get your hopes up.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting.....
Review: This film rates 4 stars on the strength of the film itself (possibly even approaching 4.5 stars). I'm told that if you have the surround sound super duper theatre at home, it's a better experience, but I only have a DVD player and a TV, and haven't yet upgraded my sound system. This is a very entertaining movie. A tad heavy-handed at times (perhaps oppressive is a better word, as in the atmosphere). The lighter moments were the best, and were suitably spaced throughout the movie. The immortality part of the plot seemed too contrived for a movie that is otherwise so original. But this is a small price to pay. As for the DVD edition, there are some great bits. I especially appreciated the full versions of the puppet documentary and the orientation film that were shown as part of the movie. Less interesting was the puppeteer and interviews outside the theatre and the extra in the car for the drive-by scenes. They are not interesting, and seemed tacked on. I was also dissappointed there was no director's commentary. Surely of all the movies I have seen in the last few years, this one deserves that treatment!
Rating:
Summary: WEIRD....
Review: A lot of people thought it was a stupid pointlees film, I believe that these people did not understand the film and did not realy get into the movie as much as I did I thought it was funny, weird and made you think also a lot of good acting and a lot of stars two thumbs up.
|
