Being John Malkovich Review
by Brandon Herring (horrormvfn AT aol DOT com)November 25th, 1999
Rating: * * * * out of * * * *
Rated: R for sexuality and language.
Starring: John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, John Malkovich (Who Else?), Orsen Bean, and a slew of star cameos.
Running Time: 112 minutes
WOW! What a movie. It's everything a movie can be: funny, dramatic, interesting, weird, funny, weird and strikingly original. Yep that pretty much describes this movie. It starts out like a regular movie and ends up being one of the weirdest, funniest most original movies I have ever seen. It boggles the mind and some have to wonder why we cannot get movies like this more often. Besides being one of the best films of the year, Being John Malkovich may as well be one of the best movies ever. Period. Then again there are so many good movies, that one cannot pick an all time favorite.
John Cusack plays a puppeteer Craig Schwartz a man out of a job, in search of a job. His wife Lotte Schwartz who is played by a completely un-noticeable Cameron Diaz who looks like something off the streets is an animal lover and has about every kind of animal you could think of. Craig finds a job as a file at the 7˝ floor of a business building...you have to pry open the elevator doors open before it reaches floor eight, the 7˝ floor is just a floor between 7 and 8. He is hired by his 105 year old boss (Orsen Bean) to be a filer. In his office, he discovers a little door, to which was boarded up and hidden.
To his curiosity he opens it and starts to crawl toward it, he then gets sucked to the end and ends up in John Malkovich's mind. Fifteen minutes later he is shot out onto the side of the New Jersey Turnpike. He returns to tell his co-worker Maxine (Catherine Keener) that he has found a portal that will lead him into John Malkovich's mind, she doesn't believe him but after she sees it it changes her mind. Lotte also finds out about the portal and discovers that being someone else is good after all. John Malkovich of course has no idea what is going on, and by the end of this bizarre film there are so many twists and turns, that we don't know what really happened.
John Cusack is outstanding and utterly believeable in a role only he himself could play. He fits the role perfectly and to me was brilliantly cast. Cameron Diaz is outstanding and utterly one of the world's most prettiest women, is made up here unnoticeable and very unattractive. She however gives a very comic performance and this could easily be her best role to date. Catherine Keener is very funny and sexy as Maxine and of course the best thing of the movie is the magic himself John Malkovich who is very brilliant and this movie plays big time homage to the master himself. The whole group combined gives us a wonderfully funny movie that is also smart and clever.
Spike Jonze (Three Kings) makes his fabulous directing debut, and did a fantastic job of directing this new classic film. He lets the viewer go on the trip as well as let the viewer know they are watching a movie. By the time the ending rolled around my head was spinning from disbelief of how good this film was. The screenplay written by Charlie Kaufman was hilarious and often thought-provoking. The film also had a soft side to it and even though the ending is very surprising it is also a little sad and heart-warming.
The whole movie was fantastic and had me rolling in the isles. From Cameron Diaz's appearence to John Malkovich's explorations I laughed very hard, and it may as well be as funny as As Good As It Gets (The FUNNIEST!). There isn't a slow point in the movie, or an overused idea. There are no cliches except for the fact that this is the most original, inventie, witty, and smart movie I've seen in a long time. I found myself amazed by everything: The direction, acting, writing and the whole idea of the movie.
By the end I had to wonder why Hollywood doesn't want to make movies like this anymore. Or why they don't. All filmmakers watch this movie and get some ideas of movies to come out. This was a surprise hit as was American Beauty. 'Being John Malkovich' is in the top 5 movies of the year, and in the top 10 best films ever made. It has something that no other movies playing now has. In fact it may as well be the best movie out right now. I highly recommend 'Being John Malkovich' and have no doubts you will be disappointed.
Reviewed by Brandon Herring November 20, 1999.
Brandon Herring
Http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/movie/3160/moviereviewheaven.html
"He Came Home"- Halloween
"I don't know if anyone can stop him!"- H4
"Im so scared!"- Blair Witch
" "- Silent Bob
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