Review of Being John Malkovich (1999) by Julien M — 02 Feb 2012

Craig Schwartz (Cusack) is a failure who chooses to be a puppeteer instead of working, and lives a very boring life with his lonely and pet-obsessed wife Lotte (Diaz). Soon enough he sees an ad in the paper for a filing job, and since he considers himself to be the perfect fit, he accepts.

There he meets the sexy, wisecracking Maxine (Keener), whom he loves; but she rejects him. Later on, he randomly finds a secret door in the workplace, a portal that leads you to John Malkovich's mind.

Craig and Maxine soon start a whole business called the "15-minutes of Being John Malkovich" which becomes immensely popular, but things take a more dramatic turn when Lotte becomes obsessed with the odd entertainment-- and falls for Maxine.

"Being John Malkovich" is one of the most funny, creative, and quirky movies ever, and I don't say that in a normal way. This film has a totally unique plot, strange characters, and unrealistic plotlines that all make for a fantastic and entertaining experience.

Jonze directs with such mastery, and puts so much of a bite in the work that there's never a boring scene in the entire movie-- it's as if the film just gets odder and odder as it goes along. And the actors pull it off so perfectly-- Cusack is flawless, Diaz is hilarious and totally unrecognizable, Keener is very good, and Malkovich just playing himself steals the show half the time with his very humorous performance.

In the end the film only got three nominations (Best Director, Best Supporting Actress: Catherine Keener, and Best Writing Original Screenplay) but it didn't win any, though all of the nominations are well deserved.

If it would have gotten a nod for Best Picture, I'd be satisfied for the few noms it was awarded. With a good script, and led by Jonze's great direction, "Being John Malkovich" is so good because it's unlike anything we've ever seen before.