A burning question

Rating: Null/10 (19 January 2002)

Being John Malkovich is really a very good movie. It is not as good as the 10/10 posters would say but is far better than many of the detracting posters make it. I would give it maybe a 7.8-8 out of 10. It is truly bizarre, insane, and over-the-top. I kept asking myself "How do people make up this stuff?" But that is not the burning question. The buring question is "Was that puppetry real or special effects?" If real, I would pay to see such a performance. It was mesmerizing. It was fantastic IF it was real. My criticism of the film is this: I think it would have been a bit better if it had been directed by Terry Gilliam; the movie starts out strange but after a few minutes you get used to the strangeness. By maintaining the same level of insanity throughout the movie, it seems to run out of steam. It should have gotten slowly but progressively weirder and weirder (like a Terry Gilliam movie). My two favorite lines in the movie are when Lottie says "Suck my dick" and when, after Craig departs his body, Malkovich says "I . . . I'm FREE!" But what made that line funny is what happens immediately after. Craig continued to pursue Maxine a LONG time after I would have told her to get off. I liked Charlie Sheen's small but hilarious role. I am sure after I see the film a couple more times and reflect on it I will figure out WHY it took place on the 7-1/2th floor; why Lottie had so many animals, especially a disgusting chimp; and why John Malkovich? Why not Harrison Ford or Rip Taylor?