Great for thinking. LOTS of fun.

Rating: 9/10 (23 April 2006)

Bizarre. That's the first word that came to my mind as I reflected on this film. Indeed the most common muttering that I heard among my friends with whom I was watching the film (who, I admit, had no idea what they were going to be watching and had never heard of the film) was: "what the f**k??!!" I kept my incredulity to myself, but I largely shared their sentiment.
It's a film about being John Malkovich (surprising, huh?). A man struggling to make ends meet as a puppeteer finds a job filing things on floor 7 ½ of a building which happens to be half a floor where everything is miniaturized, and all the people working there have to stoop. He discovers a small door that leads directly to the inside of John Malkovich, where you can be him for 15 minutes, after which you fall from the sky onto a spot pleasantly situated next to the New Jersey turnpike. Soon the puppeteer and a coworker (with whom he is in love, although he is married) start charging admission to regular schmoes who want to be someone else for fifteen minutes.
A bizarre love triangle develops between the puppeteer, his wife, and the coworker, and somehow John Malkovich is worked in there as the puppeteer and his wife vie for time being him, so that they can then be with the coworker. Now before this plot gets any more convoluted and confusing to the unknowing reader, I'm going to forgo the growing plot and I'm going to jump to the meaning and the profundity of the film (which is actually the most fun part!).
This film tackles one of the most existentially challenging and profoundly interesting and intense enigmas of humanity. What is the essence of self? Is it possible to see the world through someone else's eyes, and yet remain oneself? If you are someone else for a time, then what are you replacing, and what happens to that whom you've replaced? And what happens to your body if you've left yourself, to be someone else? Strangely enough, this film seems to answer all these questions, in as strange a manner as any other answer could possibly be. It puts forth a logical (well, almost) system in which one can be someone else, and it provides for any question the viewer could have about the process. It even raised a question that I had not even thought of, and answered it itself. What happens when a person is himself? That is, what happens when John Malkovich goes through the door to himself? Well, suffice it to say that the result blew my mind, and was hysterical at the same time. It was a very bizarre answer, but as good an answer as any other!
This film is like nothing I've been exposed to before. I keep repeating at the ends of my reviews that if a film doesn't make you think, it's not worth your time. That still holds true for this film, perhaps even more than any other, but not like any other I've seen before. Other films have messages about life. They teach the viewer something about life, or some way to live, or something the director or writer has learned that he wants to impart unto the viewer. This film does that as well, and more. It does blatantly warn of the troubles involved with wanting to be someone else. The whole concept of being another person is simply impossible, and only a dream, as evidenced by the dream-like setting of the little door: a floor half the normal size. However this film was more than a life lesson. It simply makes you think. And that's fun. It proposes a philosophical puzzle, and proposes a genuinely entertaining solution. However attacking a philosophical puzzle such as this one is seemingly impossible to do on film, short of showing three older men in smoking jackets amiably discussing the issue over sherry in front of a blazing fire. Therein lies evidence of the immense skill involved in making this film.
Another remark that I heard from a friend as we watched the film was "what kind of a person thinks of this stuff?" The answer is: a genius. Truly, only a person of extraordinary thought and inventiveness could imagine such a film. Furthermore, great film-making was employed as well. I still can't figure out how they filmed things through Malkovich's eyes. I suppose they could've taped a camera to his head. But that doesn't explain how Malkovich looked at himself in the mirror, with no place for a camera to hide. Regardless, it was pretty fancy camera work. In fact the camera work was quite masterful for much of the film, as things became mentally tumultuous.
However the crowning jewel of this film, as I've mentioned before, is the writing: both the story/plot and the dialogue. The characters are so odd, the story so strange and the dialogue so out there, that one can't help but enjoy this film! It is meant to be a comedy, and it certainly is one. The oddness and awkwardness just make you laugh. I nearly forgot to mention the fascinating performances by all the actors in the film. Particularly the awkward puppeteer played masterfully by John Cusack, and his eccentric wife, played surprisingly well by Cameron Diaz. And how could I forget John Malkovich himself, who does an exemplary job playing himself, and playing well, himself, but possessed by another. This is really a fun movie to watch, to think about, and discuss. The makers, especially Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman, and the entire cast and crew deserve a firm pat on the back, and all those who haven't seen it deserve a firm word of encouragement. Go see this film, and be prepared to exclaim "what the f**k??!!" And remember, if it doesn't make you think, it's not worth your time.
-Michael