Excellent movie, but the screenplay's even better.

Rating: 10/10 (7 May 2000)

NOTE: This comment does NOT include spoilers for the MOVIE Being John Malkovich. It does, however, contain spoilers for the SCREENPLAY Being John Malkovich, which is available on the internet. These spoilers do NOT give away details of this movie as it can be seen in theaters. In this comment, I don't want to talk much about the movie itself. It is, as you can see from my one-line summary above, excellent. I'm a big fan of the Theater of the Absurd (Beckett, Ionesco etc.) and BEING JOHN MALKOVICH is the cinematic Theater of the Absurd. Great, funny and remarkably clever in every second. But to come to my point: I read the screenplay (not the filmed version, as I found out now) in advance. It literally had me rolling on the floor laughing- and afterwards it had me considering the genius of Mr. Charlie Kaufman- in utter admiration of his talents. So now, having seen the movie, I am a bit disappointed to see that the FANTASTIC original ending (which had the Malkovichians take control of the entire planet and turn it into an Orwell-like dystopia. Lotte (Diaz), who in the beginning, was probably the most bizarre character in the story, becomes the only remaining (recognizable) human being on Earth, who wants to stage a revolution against the terror regime of the Malkovichians, while Craig (Cusack) becomes a puppet himself in the hands of Evil. Oh, and by the way, Lotte marries the monkey!) was replaced by a less favorable ending. But I guess budget considerations were the reason for this decision. Pity. Nonetheless, this film is maybe the most mind-wrenching, funny and clever comedy ever to grace the screens. I think Cameron Diaz is the heart and soul of it in her best performance yet. She should have been the one getting an Oscar nomination. But, still, if you ever have the chance to catch the screenplay on the net: read it! It will enhance your appreciation for this masterpiece even more- and you'll see what a shame it is that such great projects like this one don't get enough money to transport the writer's vision to the screen as it was meant to. I give this movie a straight 10 points.