Just plain weird  but is clever and funny enough to last beyond the novelty value

Rating: Null/10 (22 July 2002)

A street puppeteer, Craig, is down on his luck and gets a job in an office filing papers. One day he discovers a small doorway behind one of the cabinets. He goes in to find himself inside the head of actor John Malkovich  seeing and hearing from inside his head. In an attempt to impress co-worker Maxine he shows her and they decide to rent the experience out to people. However Maxine becomes obsessed with Malkovich and Craig tries to stay in Malkovich and work him like a puppet  despite the concerns of his girlfriend Lotte.
It's hard to sell this movie without sounding nuts  in 40 years this film will be on the imdb message boards with people trying to work out if they dreamed it or if it was real! Although the plot is insane it is actually a funny and moving film that is very clever. The film has a moving desperation about it as each character longs to be someone else  the final shot is heartbreaking. The plot may well be full of holes but it's so surreal you can't expect it all to make sense  even within it's own logic.
Cusack is excellent and this was part of a very good run of films for him. He is delicate and weak, just as he's supposed to be. Diaz is better than usual and is barely recognisable, Keener steals the show as Maxine giving an OTT sort of performance. Malkovich himself is really good playing `himself'  he is the brunt of a few gags and he seems to love it.
Overall this is worth watching simply because it is so very different to anything else you'll see in the multiplex. Outside of the novelty value it still manages to be a moving, funny film.