AVOID "BEING JOHN MALKOVICH" LIKE IT IS THE PLAGUE

Rating: 1/10 (19 May 2002)

Strong reviews, a great cast, and an interesting premise made me rent this movie; an un-funny, demented, and just plain bad film made me wish I had never been born. How this movie can be lauded as a classic is beyond me. Quite frankly, the fact that it is such a cult classic makes me wonder if the end of western civilization is near.
Is it original? Yes. Is it creative? Yes. But is it GOOD?? A big NO. I must have looked at the clock every 2 minutes, just waiting for this.THING.in front of me to be over with. Just because a movie is new and original does not mean that it is good. I hate to generalize, but I certainly can see this garbage being a favorite of pseudo-intellectual, java sipping art house gurus, due to its bizarreness and originality. For most normal people, however, this movie will be nothing but a miserable experience. I've never seen a comedy that was less funny. The plot went from mildly interesting to surreal, the acting was stiff, the characters weren't compelling or endearing (how can one like a movie if the characters aren't likable, or, at the very least, interesting?), and, oh yeah, it was NOT funny at all. It will take a court order (and 10 stout men to enforce it) to ever get me to watch this horrid movie again. In fact, it'll take something extraordinary for me to ever see a Spike Jonze movie again. Yup, it was THAT bad.
I've probably seen worse movies, but you'd have to give me a day or two to think of one.
AVOID BEING JOHN MALKOVICH LIKE IT IS THE PLAGUE and thank me later. If you are compelled to watch it, well, I warned you.
1/10