Review of Being John Malkovich (1999) by Elliot N — 18 Feb 2011

Sometimes you do wonder where the writers get their ideas from. From the crazy to the surreal you are left impressed by the absolute brilliance of an idea. Being John Malkovitch is one of the films that will leave you in shock and in awe due to the originality of the idea. Being John Malkovitch is one of the best comedies in recent memory, though looking at the some of the releases between the release of Being John Malkovitch is not particularly saying much. It would be better to say Being John Malkovitch is one of the best comedies in the genre.

Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is a luckless puppeteer who applies to work is a very strange office building with a floor marked 7 1/2. This very strange floor has very low ceilings in which you had to duck your hand as you walk through the corridors and that's not it. Behind a filing cabinet is a secret portal that transports you into the mind of actor John Malkovitch for 15 minutes until it spits you back out. Schwartz and a co-worker, Maxine (Catherine Keener) decide to build a business out of it offering the chance for people to be John Malkovitch at $200 a pop.

Being John Malkovitch is one of the best original comedies (yes I said original) for best part of twenty years, it is also one the finest works in the genre and ranks among the likes of Monty Python and other comedy classics you name it and this will be among them. Being John Malkovitch is a very strange and peculiar film but never for one second does it descend into complete over the top silliness. The idea is an absurd one but a brilliant one and its Charlie Kauffman's insane idea that makes the film Being John Malkovitch a great one.

The absolute absurdness is what will drag people into watching such a film, the sypnosis is great and it will leave you gobsmacked as you watch the proceedings unfold in a very different and a very odd way. Being John Malkovitch is not filled with many laugh out loud moments (not that is a bad thing with such a film) the most clever and funny thing about Being John Malkovitch is the idea it's so ludicrously brilliant. With its very unique humour, the scene in which John Malkovitch enters his own mind is unforgettable and the rather strange receptionist who thinks everyone has a speech impediment, though it turns out that she can hear perfectly fine the comedy may not be for everybody but I can guarantee that most of you will find it amusing.

Being John Malkovitch has it's range of gags from sly, quiet and understated to visual, the sight of John Malkovitch with breasts and in a dress is hilarious. Charlie Kaufman is a delight and you can see a very obvious relation to his other works Eternal Moonshine of the Spotless mind which has a similar strange, mysterious feel to it which also dealt with some aspects of the mind memory in particular while Being John Malkovitch dealt with self and consciousness. The portal leading to mind of John Malkovitch discovers who you are as person (if you are unsure) and makes you feel like somebody else which results in Lotte Schwarz's (Cameron Diaz) obsession with such a strange device. This answers the question where Kaufman got the idea from, he is just that type of bloke the type with a mind that can conjure up the wired and the strange again Adaptation, also written by Kaufman deals with the mind.

The performances in Being John Malkovitch are highly amusing and entertaining, an almost unrecognizable Cameron Diaz is great as Lotte Schwartz, Craig Schwartz estranged, sexual confused wife who with Craig has a crush on Maxine. Both Catherine Keener and John Cusack give some engaging performances but its John Malkovitch's hilarious and unforgettable performance that really steals the show from the rest of the cast. Malkovitch is funny, entertaining and bloody brilliant as well John Malkovitch who is laughing at his own expense. So Malkovitch is so much fun to watch and he is the second greatest factor in the film, taking second place behind the creative and brilliant and genius idea.

Being John Malkovitch is a superbly well executed film by Spike Jonze that ranks among one of the greatest films in the comedy genre, though it not all happy and delightful it has its dark moments to as Craig Schwartz develops a slight obsessions but you can quite confidently place Being John Malkovitch in the comedy genre and great one it is but can go right over your head and leave you slightly confused and it's slightly uneven but it does regain its spark in the final third after losing some in the second act.

4/5.