Being John Malkovich

Rating:
Summary: The Most Original and Inventive Films of the Decade!!
Review: This movie is so inventive that you'll wonder how screenwriter Charlie Kaufman thought of the concept. Refreshingly modern, hip, giddy, funny, innovative and bursting with originality, you won't find any creative block here. The plot is nearly indescribable, it has something to do with a portal at floor 7½ that leads into the mind of actor John Malkovich for 15 minutes and then dumps you on the New Jersey turnpike, sound weird? it is, but the plot is beside the point. It is thoroughly original, hilarious and extremely and entertaining. John Cusack is great as the pathetic pupeteer, and Cameron Diaz shows she can take good career risks with this unusual role for her. But it is Catherine Keener and John Malkovich who give the film is's flavor. Keener is the ultimate object of desire for everyone in the film and she delivers very funny lines and gives the best performance in the cast. John Malkovich is also very funny playing himself, showing us that you can deliver a good performance even if you're playing an 'actor named John Malkovich'. Great movie, one of the best of 1999. See it. From a scale of 1-10 I give this movie a 9!

Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly the strangest film ever made
Review: How Being John Malkovitch was ever made I'll never understand. It is so bizarre, different, clever and out-there that no production company should have ever approved it. Yet they did, and for that I am ever so grateful.

Just the story synopsis sounds so crazy. A puppeteer working on the 7 1/2 floor (originally built for midgets) finds a portal leading to the head of real life actor John Malkovitch, allowing annoying entering it to be Malkovitch for 15 minutes before being spit out on the side of the New Jersey Turnpike. Wow. And the movie is so much more weird then that. The first time I saw it, my mouth was wide open in shock. How did this movie get made? It's so crazy it's wonderful.

With such a the head-trip of a story, it's easy to skip over the wonderful performances by the cast. John Cusack and Cameron Diaz look and act positively convincing as a poor, ugly and strange couple in New York. Catherine Keener is superb as a power-hungry, greedy woman who Cusack and Diaz both fall for, and of course Malkovitch as himself is both strange and intoxicating. Is it how he really acts? You never really know. And that's part of the charm of this wonderful film. The line of reality and fiction at times becomes fuzzy. A characteristic that writer Charlie Kaufman and director Spike Jonze play even more with in their follow-up Adaptation.

Of course, all this weirdness means this film isn't for everyone. Some will scoff at it's "too cleverness" or walk out thoroughly confused. But for those who love the theater of the absurd, this will be pure paradise. One of the most unique and memorable films to come out under the Hollywood radar in a long time. This gets my high recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: Why Deranged Writers Should be Supervised
Review: This movie is a perfect example of how you shouldn't take drugs before writing scripts. The first part was amusing but bizarre; the second half ruined the first half by introducing sexual perversion. If you are going to take drugs and write scripts, please use the SAME drug and don't mix them randomly.

This could have been a great movie, and there are some good spots, but essentially it's a waste of time. Get something better, like Amazon Women from Mars.

Rating:
Summary: Preposterous, poorly lit, poorly directed, pretentious, dour
Review: BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (2000-?) has been touted as a masterpiece, but it's difficult to see why: 1.) The narrative is absolutely preposterous---not to mention obviously "media-critical" (everyday losers disappear into the head of a celebrity and see the world through his eyes); 2.) The film is very poorly lit---and please don't tell me that this is "deliberate." It's simply poorly lit, whether "deliberately" or not. 3.) The film is poorly directed by an MTV video jockey who has been dubbed as "mysterious" for reasons that are mysterious to me. (Who cares if he is "mysterious"? On the basis of this film, the man's no artist.) Almost every shot is static and lifeless and conventionally set up. 4.) The film is EXTREMELY pretentious, much like other psuedo-counter-mainstream mainstream American films from the same period (REQUIEM FOR A DREAM and THE RULES OF ATTRACTION). 5.) The film is simply dour. Not emotionally powerful. Not disheartening. Just saggy and soggy and dour.

Apparently, I am one of the few who think that this is a terrible film, and I don't expect anyone else to agree with me.

Rating:
Summary: Unrealized potential
Review: I purchased this film with high hopes, being an aficionado of off-kilter movies. And with a plot like Being John Malkovich's, how could I go wrong? A downtrodden puppeteer, working on floor seven and half of an office building, discovers a portal into the mind of John Malkovich. Even with such an intriguing premise, though, I felt this movie struck out (I am in the minority in feeling this).

Let me first say that all of the primary actors performed brilliantly. Cusack played both the melancholy and crazy sides of Craig the puppeteer quite well, and Diaz really shone as his quirky wife. One of the best performances was by Malkovich himself, lampooning himself quite handily and playing the different "inhabitants" of his body as adroitly as he played his own self.

However, even these brilliant performances don't save the movie. Fantasy is a difficult genre to conduct successfully, contrary to popular belief. One of the unwritten rules of fantasy is that, no matter how fantastical the story, it needs to be internally consistent. The film fails miserably in this aspect. Sometimes only a single person can inhabit Malkovich, sometimes multiple people. Far-fetched explanations about the subconscious and the "power of the puppeteer" attempt to account for this discrepancy but ultimately prove insufficient, if you follow them through to their logical conclusions. The writer also throws in several random occurrences with no apparent connection to the idea of the portal. Why, for instance, does Malkovich end up in a world full of people who look like him when he goes through the portal? Is this some play on his ego? On the nature of how we see the world? I really don't know, and I don't think these inconsistencies were meant to be "things to make you go hmm," as in other films.

And I suppose that's really what really bothered about Being John Makovich. The idea is a fascinating one, brilliant even, with so much potential. But that potential is squandered for cheap laughs: a lesbian affair through Malkovich's body, chimpanzee childhood traumas, lecherous old men, etc. Instead of harnessing the inherent ironic humor in the idea and making this a thought-provoking movie, the writers used the idea to string together several cheesy laughs characteristic of other Hollywood comedies.

As it is, I give Malkovich a star for good acting and another star for a nice idea. For a real five-star, absurd, ironic, and absolutely fascinating comedy, I recommend Fight Club.

Rating:
Summary: Possibly the weirdest film of all time, absolutely brilliant
Review: Warning:before watching this film you should realize that this could be one of the weirdest, craziest film of all time. It kept me scratching my head.

Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is a puppeteer who is struggling for stardom in fame. In order to put food on the table, Craig decides to get a job. He finds himself as filing clerk. He then discovers a portal to the mind of John Malkovich. The portal allows you to be John Malkavich for 15. Your John Malkovich for fifteen minutes and then dumped in the turnpike of New Jersey. Then he falls in love with his co-worker Maxine (Catherine Keener)Craig, Maxine, and Craigs current wife Lotte (Cameron Diaz) charge $200 to let people be John Malkavich. But then as Lotte continues to go to the portal and then falls in love with Maxine, as Lotte continues going to the portal and being John Malkavich. It is then a war between Craig and Lotte of who's getting Maxine. It is a crazed script.

Personally out of this film I was just stunned. Watching this film once isn't really enough. It can be kind of disturbing in ways. Personally I thought the movie was a great success. But that's me, other people think it is a stupid film out of the story. But it is not, you will like it. Really before watching this I didn't even know who John Malkovich was, and still technically don't. And its weird to see someone play themselves. Since in this page they don't show what are the special features. So here they are.

·Trailer and tv spots
·Interview with director spike jonze
·Cast and crew
·Spikes photo album
·Art on the puppeteering
·Seven and a half floor orientation
Over all I think the films great. Just remember its weird. A must see though.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Fun in John Malkovich's Head
Review: This movie is different from any other movie ever made. It is a fun trip that raises many thoughtful questions. WARNING: DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE IF YOU SUFFER FROM PARANOID DELUSIONS OR SUBSCRIBE TO MATRIX-TYPE CONSPIRACY THEORIES. It will send you over the edge. The basic story is that down-on-his-luck wanna be puppeteer John Cusack reluctantly gets a day job at the gentle urging of his frumpy wife (yes they make her a frump) Cameron Diaz. This day job changes both their lives as Cusack discovers a portal that leads to John Malkovich's head. Nothing and no one is what they seem, and it is very hard to see who is controlling who, even at the very end.

I can't imagine John Malkovich's face when he was approached with this screenplay. I can't believe anyone in his right mind wouldn't run the other way when presented with even the most basic premise for this film. But then again, at least in the movie, Malkovich is anything but in his right mind. Heck, for most of the film, he isn't even IN his mind. Creepy, huh? Creepy doesn't even begin to cover it. But I highly recommend it. Just be warned not to drive or operate heavy machinery after seeing it.

This movie is best watched late at night. Most of the scenes are in fact shot at nighttime, adding positively to the surreal effect of the story. Cusack, Diaz, and Malkovich turn in wonderful performances. Catherine Keener is suitably hateable as the selfish Maxine.

This movie encourages you to look deep beneath the surface of a person. It is also good for some serious out-loud laughs.

Rating:
Summary: Weird, but good.
Review: 'Being John Malkovich' is a really weird, but good film. Towards the end it gets kind of sad though.

Rating:
Summary: Preposterous, poorly lit, poorly directed, pretentious, dour
Review: BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (2000-?) has been touted as a masterpiece, but it's difficult to see why: 1.) The narrative is absolutely preposterous---not to mention obviously "media-critical" (everyday losers disappear into the head of a celebrity and see the world through his eyes); 2.) The film is very poorly lit---and please don't tell me that this is "deliberate." It's simply poorly lit, whether "deliberately" or not. 3.) The film is poorly directed by an MTV video jockey who has been dubbed as "mysterious" for reasons that are mysterious to me. (Who cares if he is "mysterious"? On the basis of this film, the man's no artist.) Almost every shot is static and lifeless and conventionally set up. 4.) The film is EXTREMELY pretentious, much like other psuedo-counter-mainstream mainstream American films from the same period (REQUIEM FOR A DREAM and THE RULES OF ATTRACTION). 5.) The film is simply dour. Not emotionally powerful. Not disheartening. Just saggy and soggy and dour.

Apparently, I am one of the few who think that this is a terrible film, and I don't expect anyone else to agree with me.

Rating:
Summary: A TRIP FOR YO MIND!
Review: I SEEN THIS AMAZING FILM IN A MULTIPLEX AND WENT HUH???I TAPE IT OFF OF TV WEEN IT WAS ON HBO.I GET IT.THE GUY THAT WROTE THIS,CHARLIE KAUFFMAN IS A GENIUS.THIS IS A GREAT COMEDY AND EVERY TIME I WATCH IT.I SOMETHING TO CHUCKLE AT.SEE THIS FILM SEVERAL TIMES.IT'S A RICH TAPESTRY OF COMIC WRITING.SPIKE JONZE HAS DONE A FINE JOB IN 1ST FILM AFTER MANY INVENTIVE MUSIC VIDEOS.ALL THE ACTORS ARE GREAT.MY FAVORITES ARE ORSON BEAN,CATHERINE KEENER,CAMERON DIAZ AND THE ONE AND ONLY MR. MALKIVICH.THE SCENE WHERE HE GOES INTO HIS OWN PORTAL IS CLASSIC.I DON'T KNOW WHY SOME POSTERS HERE GIVE THIS FILM LESS THAN 5 STARS.A FILM LIKE 2001 OR BRAZIL IS TOO DEEP FOR THE COMMON MOVIE LOVER.THIS IS A GREAT FILM.IT HAS MOVIE SCRIPT LIKE CITIZEN KANE MOST SCRIPT WRITERS WOULD KILL TO MAKE!IT MAKES THE OVERRATED 'FIGHT CLUB'THE SHALLOW BRAIN DEAD TRASH IT REALLY IS.A REAL MAN COULD SEE THRU THAT BUNK.