Remarkable, extraordinary, and a refreshing diversion from the usual bland and lifeless stuff

Rating: 8/10 (11 April 2000)

This is a unique and original film to watch, and not like many others. John Cusack is good as Craig Schwartz, a struggling puppeteer who gets a job on the seven and a half floor of an office building, and discovers a portal to access actor John Malkovich. Cameron Diaz plays his wife Lotte, and Catherine Keener is good as his co-worker Maxine. They decide to charge people two hundred dollars for the pleasure of visiting Mr Malkovich, but he soon finds out, and the scene when he himself goes through the portal is amazing, and the best scene in the film. The scenes when Craig and Lotte are inside Malkovich reminded me slightly of the final segment of Woody Allen's Everything You Wanted To Know About Sex....But Were Afraid To Ask, when a group of people are inside a man's body controlling him, and also the movies Fantastic Voyage and Innerspace came to mind also. But this is far better than those films. John Malkovich is also good playing himself with a soft spoken voice. Bizarre, funny, different, it's nice to see that some original and worthwhile films do appear every now and then. Watch it again and again.