My pick for best of 1999

Rating: Null/10 (3 January 2000)

In a year of great movies, this was my personal favorite. Very original, smart, and hip - all without playing any cheap tricks on the audience. One complaint: about 1/3 of the way through, the lighting becomes very dark and stays that way for some time. This made me drowsy... The first time I saw it, I did not understand the end (my own fault). But the second time I got it. When they are reading the book about portals in the mind, it says "a person entering a fetus mind will be trapped inside it forever". Cusack had left Malkovich, then reentered the portal just after 12:00, after which the portal had stopped going to Malkovich and redirected itself into the fetus of "his" daughter... and of course he had no way to know this would happen. Very clever. I recommend multiple viewings, as things take on a different meaning the next time around. Great music, great acting, great story, lots of laughs, and a good amount of absorbing moments gives this one a 10/10