Movie Reviews

Being John Malkovich is so insanely wierd, you have to wonder how anyone could possibly have come up with such a bizarre script. Thankfully, it's not wierd in an incomprehensible, unintelligable 'art-film' sort of way; it's more that some of the underlying events and ideas are totally strange, but the characters react to them in a more-or-less reasonable and realistic manner.

Still, it's all quite wierd. But also very funny. Things start to get strange when Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) begins a new filing-clerk job at Lestercorp, located on the seven-and-half floor of an office tower. The secretary of Lestercorp has a habit of mishearing even the most perfectly intelligible speech, and the owner, Dr. Lester, is therefore convinced he has a debilitating speech impediment. Then Craig finds a portal into the head of John Malkovich. Craig and his coworker Maxine (Catherine Keener) place an add, start up a fake business, and start charging the public $200 a pop for a trip into Malkovich's head. Maxine eventually meets John Malkovich, and happens to have sex with him at the same time that Craig's wife Lotte (Cameron Diaz) is inside the Malkovich-portal. Maxine reveals a passioinate lust and love for Lotte, but only while Lotte is 'inside' Malkovich. And so on. There are other twists and turns, but part of the fun of the movie is watching these bizarre and unpredictable things unfold.

So on this level, Being John Malkovich is great simply because it's so unpredictable, unusual, and funny. But also, if I were to really get deep into it (which I haven't done yet), I'm sure there's lots of film-student-analysis-type stuff to think about. It's difficult to consider a movie as wierd and funny as this one as such, but I think there's a lot of philosophical-type things happening in it, which elevates it above simply a bizarre comedy. I have a feeling that some people would still probably be put off by the wierdness of it, but I think Being John Malkovich is a great film.