Goodnight everybody

Rating: 10/10 (29 December 1999)

This has to be the best film I have ever been fortunate to see in a movie theater. I found its unique devices innovative and refreshing. Blah blah blah. Its all been said before and I agree with it all... But there were two things about this film that stood out for me that I have not yet seen touched upon. The first is the film's ability to manipulate me exactly they way it wanted to, and with out me realizing it at first. The biggest form of this being my newfound desire to actually be John Malkovich, if only for a few minutes. There we so many different types of characters and despite all their differences they all wanted to be this somewhat obscure character actor. I soon began to honestly want to shell out my $200 to experience what it would be like to experience what none of us can ever do, not even with those closest to us, get inside someone's head and truly see the world from their eyes. This ability the film had also worked very well with the character of Maxine. Let's face it folks, this girl is not terribly easy on the eyes. Her face has some witch like qualities to it (the long, crooked nose, the large teeth, that mole on her chin), she was skinny (not slender, skinny) and boney and no fit for the role of the temptress in any other movie. But by the end of this film, through shear personality alone, she became a slinky, velvety, sexy vivacious and desirable woman. I really, really wanted her, and I could see why everyone else wanted her too. She was almost worth killing for. In other words the film made me understand the motivations of the characters like no other. The second unique part of the film was Malkovich himself and the fact that he played himself. This is a rare treat in films that is very hard to make possible. It's also a very brave thing to do. Unlike movies like "Private Parts" where the main character plays the lead in his autobiography, "Malkovich" is not an egomaniacal device to prove something to the world. Instead we get little snippets of what could be real experiences of the actor, often in portions of his life require excruciating vulnerability. This goes from such small snippets as childhood photos to scenes like that of young Malkovich sitting in a dark basement chanting about what a bad boy he is, or being taunted on the school bus. You are left wondering if these are real experiences or not. Either way the actor is defining himself (as he is playing himself) in less than flattering ways that make the audience look at him very differently. I think John Malkovich deserves so much of the credit for making this movie extraordinary.