Rating: Summary: Bizarre, Twisted ... and Great Review: This is one of those films that you sit back afterwards, take a deep breath, ... and then wonder what the heck just happened. It's easy to get lost in the weird and warped sense of reality that Spike Jonze presents -- and impossible to think your way out of it.This movie never would have worked without John Malkovich ("Being Dustin Hoffman" ... I don't think so), but with him in the title role, it's beautiful (and actually one of his best performances in recent years). Charlie Kaufman has written an excellent and highly original script here. Add the remainder of the cast (you know, the lead roles) -- and the brilliant direction by Jonze -- and you see what makes this the great film it is. Jonze's direction brings unexpected performances from well-known actors. John Cusack and Cameron Diaz, who aren't exactly no-talents to begin with, are truly unforgettable in this film. Once you abandon yourself to the reality that there is a portal into John Malkovich in the middle of some office building in Manhattan ... you're in for a heck of a ride.
Rating: Summary: Fantastic film and extras. Review: We all know how great this movie was, and if you don't, read the reviews. The DVD extras, though, make it that much better. We get to watch the actual Welcome to the 7 1/2 Floor video, as well as the Malkovich Retrospective that Malkovich watches on TV in the movie. (Confused?) The documentaries are, well, odd. One is an interview with a suspiciously queasy Spike Jonze, and another follows an extra as she waits to drive past the Turnpike set. We also get an interview with the puppeteer who worked on the film. I would have loved a commentary with Jonze, but it's still a great package if you love this truly wonderful film.
Rating: Summary: Have you ever wanted to be someone else? Now you can... Review: Wow! To begin, I've always enjoyed John Malkovich's talent as an actor, but to be fair he is very nearly outshined by John Cusack and Catherine Keener. Imagine for a moment that you find a strange door somewhere, and once you enter, you become John Malkovich, and see his world through his eyes. Then after 15 minutes, you're spit out into a ditch on the side of the New Jersey Turnpike. Throughout this odd sojourn into J.M.'s mind and body is an odd love triangle between Cusack, Keener, and Cusack's wife, played by Cameron Diaz. The greed and avarice that becomes apparent in all three of these characters is intense, as John Malkovich becomes simply a means to an end, much to his own dismay. Buy, rent, borrow a copy of this film. You will not be disappointed.
Rating: Summary: Odd, but worth it Review: When I first sat down to watch this movie, I was curious and anxious. When the movie started, I was a bit skeptical- just a bit. But I have to say that before I saw the movie, I knew I'd come out loving it and that's exactly what happened. The movie is odd but at the same time it's so ingenious. All the characters were really great; the story ended up to be touching and I still laugh at the monkey's past and how he was able to break out of his fear of it. The movie was so good, I was afraid people would not appreciate it just because it's not like the big film productions of today and just because of it's simply odd plot. Some people turned their noses up when I told them how much I had enjoyed it but I'm glad to see so many other people have enjoyed it as well. You have to go in with an open mind- if you don't then you'll HATE this movie. I highly appreciated this movie. It was great.
Rating: Summary: Being John Malkovich Review: This movie rules! It has everything... A director. (Spike Jonze) A cast. (A lot of people) A crew. (Even more people) A background. (Inside John Malkovich) It has good comedy, and ideas. Just the idea of going inside somebody and looking through them is awesome! Get this movie!
Rating: Summary: BEING JOHN MALKOVICH Review: BEING JOHN MALKOVICH is the most delieriously original, funny, and just plain weird movie in...forever. It's hillarious, unpredictable, with a flwless script, brilliant acting, and fantastic direction. BEING JOHN MALKOVICH stands as the most original movie out of the year in a year when movies were more daring then they had been in years.
Rating: Summary: The Most Creative Movie of Last Year! Review: It was one of the best movies of the year. Charile Kaufmanwrote one of the best scripts ever. The movie is quirky, funny andemotional. It has the best of everything. A great director and a great cast. It was one of the best movies of last year, it got ignored at the Oscar's but then good movies always do.
Rating: Summary: Screwball Comedy with a Brain Review: Being John Malkovitch is many things simultaneously. With a heady layering of allusion it provides a reductio ad absudum comment on Cartesian dualism while at the same time lampooning modern narcissistic approaches to acting. All this and at the same time Being John Malkovitch ranks with the best of the screwball comedies. The strange world of the seven and a half (suggesting Fellini's 8 ½)floor immediately sets the viewers body on edge. The effect is visceral and sets up the desire to get out of the cramped space and therefore out of the body. Very soon there is an Alice in Wonderland quality with the distorted communication, the tiny doorway and subterranean tunnel. This tunnel though takes us to a postmodern Wonderland. One of the great jokes of the movie is the casting of Orson Bean as the 105-year-old Dr. Lester. I last recall Bean some years ago had a keen interest in the theories of Wilhelm Reich, which involved some notion life extension and enhanced sexual potency through collecting orgone energy. To see him reappear as the geriatric lech almost made me wet myself. The Spellbound spoofing psychoanalytic epiphany of the chimp was another high point.
Rating: Summary: Thye best film of 1999 and the second best film of the 90's Review: An amazing triumph in film making. Spike Jonze makes the transfer from music videos to film masterfuly and this si the most imaginative film i have ever seen. I never got tired of seeing this film, rarely is a film this exciting to watch. Very very funny and at some moments touching. This is the second best film of the 90's behind Pulp Fiction. If you haven't seen this film...WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR! It will forever be in your mind.
Rating: Summary: Malkovich outdoes the usual mainstream fare Review: This movie is not your run-of-the-mill movie. Told in the indie style of American Psycho or Pi, Being John Malkovich provides more entertainment and introspection than either of those movies. It's witty, beautifully filmed, told in a tongue-in-cheek manner that always lets you know the filmmakers are fully aware of what they're doing. Suspension of disbelief isn't even necessary; the tale spun creates its own world, full of confused passion, identity crises, and a dark and evocative score.
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