Highly original concept, though a bit formulaic at the end

Rating: 7/10 (18 June 2000)

This is definitely one of the more bizarre films I've seen. You probably know the story by now. A bland, unimportant man with a passion for puppets (Craig) finds himself lusting for a selfish cynical female coworker(Maxine), who pays him no mind until he finds something she thinks can be of use to her: a door which takes people into the mind of John Malkovich. For fifteen minutes, someone can see, hear, smell, taste, and most importantly feel everything the actor experiences. Problems arise, however, when Craig's wife (Lotte) becomes addicted to the experience, and the way it allows her to actualize her desire to have the same woman her husband wants, even if only while being John Malkovich.
The atmosphere is bleak, but befitting what ends up being such a bleak tale. The movie presents the surreal and supernatural as existing rather matter of factly and characters never seem to question the existence or plausibility of the portal. But, this isn't a movie trying to pass itself off as reality anyway. It becomes a somewhat intense character study early on, and the director chose (wisely I think) not to waste time trying to validate the existence of the door into Malkovich's head. The characters all give excellent and convincing portrayals of highly dysfunctional people. John Malkovich, while he spends very little time onscreen as himself, is fascinating to watch being controlled and manipulated by others. In the end, he is someone nobody ultimately is concerned with. Everyone simply wants to take what it is they desire for themselves through the use of him regardless of his own feelings. And, in that way, everyone displays a strange obliviousness to being John Malkovich.
My biggest complaint with the film is that rather than making some obvious philosophical statements on the nature of being and consciousness which could have easily been put forth by the existence of the portal, it instead seems to concentrate on merely relating the tale of the most bizarre love triangle you'll ever witness. That it does very well and in an engaging manner, but the possibilities of the portal still seem strangely unexplored in the end. Perhaps, however, whatever message is trying to be conveyed is wrapped up in the story itself. I am certain the movie is full of symbolic imagery and actions that will take some time to digest.

If you want to experience an almost surreal movie that will stick with you for some time, this is probably a good pick. If you don't like movies where the implausible and fantastic is accepted without question, however, it's probably not going to appeal to you.