A classic fantasy

Rating: 9/10 (11 November 1999)

In the great tradition of "Alice in Wonderland" and "Eraserhead," comes "Being John Malkovich," Spike Jonze's totally original and captivating fantasy. The movie's originality is especially welcome in a time when almost every film to come out of Hollywood is either a sequel, a remake, or a knock-off. John Cusack is Craig Schwartz, an unemployed puppeteer who gets a job as a file clerk in a strange office with low ceilings on the 7-1/2th floor (Harry Potter fans will be reminded of Platform 9-3/4). It is here that he discovers a portal that sucks you into the head of John Malkovich for exactly 15 minutes (a nod to Andy Warhol) and then dumps you beside the New Jersey Turnpike. All this has to be seen to be grasped --- and it's just for starters! The film never runs out of surprises. The fact that writer Charlie Kaufman could have thought up a story like this is only half as amazing as the fact that it could be successfully brought to the screen. Jonze deserves an Oscar nod. The movie has more ideas on its mind than it can tackle (little things like celebrity, identity, consciousness, sex, and death), but never mind -- it is amazing and hilarious the whole way. John Malkovich also deserves an Oscar for accepting such a risky role and for doing it so brilliantly. It will be the first time an actor is nominated for portraying himself!