Eraserhead for rationalists / Postmodern-Lite

Rating: 8/10 (14 March 2006)

Being John Malkovich is an odd little dark comedy which is slightly open to interpretation, but deals with themes like identity, manipulation, sex, and neuroses. The acting is excellent - but nothing less should have been expected from this cast. The screenplay is also very good, as is the direction and editing. The film moves along at a comfortable pace, relying more on the somewhat obscure messages embedded in the intriguing plot than on characters, plot-line, action, or intellect.
John Cusack plays a control freak whose obsession manifests itself in his choice of an unsuccessful career - as a puppeteer. Cameron Diaz plays his wife, a passive woman with little self-determination and a very big heart. Catherine Keener plays a shallow jet-setter Cusack, and later Diaz, becomes obsessed with. John Malkovich plays John Malkovich.... sort of.
One of the challenging aspects of this film is that none of these characters, with the exception of Malkovich himself, are very likable. They all do drugs, obsess on their own fantasies and have rather warped self-concepts. Of the three principals, I chose to like Diaz' character most simply because she loved animals so much.
In any case, the plot is basically a bit of post-modern twilight zone sci-fi, with a somewhat more linear and conventional story line than some of the more challenging material in post-modern cinema (i.e. Eraserhead, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive). The success of this film is probably largely due to its inherent rationality - like Memento, it feels weird and moody, but is really based on a pretty simple, if somewhat silly, concept.
By entering a tiny tunnel in an office on the 7.5th floor of an office building where Cusack and keener work, you can become John Malkovich for fifteen minutes. Unless you are a puppet-master, in which case you can possess the legendary actor for the remainder of his life. To reveal any more of the plot would require a spoiler, so I will stop here. However, I want to write a little about the general themes the film comments on.
*BJM points out a relationship between puppetry and acting. Though clever and cleverly portrayed, this connection is really rather superficial and pedantic.
*BJM has a queer concept of morality and control. While the question of what happens to Malkovich throughout the film is hardly asked at all, the film seems to say that overtly attempting to control others is a bad thing, while doing so passively is really quite OK.
*BJM definitely has a drug-induced flavor to it. I haven't smoked dope in many years, but this film is the sort of thing I used to write while high. From the amount of pot-smoking references in the film, I also got the feeling that at least the writer considered it a major part of his life.
This is a really neat little surrealism-lite film. It's far from a masterpiece, but definitely worth seeing.