An exquisite movie

Rating: 10/10 (29 June 2006)

John Cusack plays Craig Schwartz, a puppeteer, who discovers a hidden door in his office.That door leads into the head of actor John Malkovich and you can stay there for 15 minutes.Being John Malkovich (1999) is, could I say slightly eccentric movie.And that's why it's so darn good.Spike Jonze directed and Charlie Kaufman wrote it.How can you go wrong with this couple? Movies are too much the same old, same old these days, so it's refreshing to see a movie that is far from that.The casting is excellent.John Cusack, this now forty year old actor, does excellent job in the lead.His acting is never bad.Cameron Diaz is fabulous as Lotte.Catherine Keener does great job as Maxine.Charlie Sheen makes a visit as Charlie.Sean Penn and Brad Pitt pop in as themselves.Then there's of course John Malkovich playing John Horatio Malkovich.I wonder what they would have done if John hadn't accepted the part.Maybe the title would have been Being...something, something. The movie offers lots of funny scenes.I laughed a long time when John went into his own head.And then there are the apes.It can also be dramatic from time to time.Being John Malkovich is a fine example of combining comedy and tragedy.Those two walk hand in hand in the movie as they often do in life.In the movie all those people want to go into the head of a movie star because they want to be someone else for a while.In real life you can't be anybody else.You're stuck with yourself.All you can do is act.But it won't do no good.Be yourself.Being yourself is the best you can do.