somewhat overrated, but definitely worth watching

Rating: 8/10 (25 August 2000)

"Being John Malkovich" is a truly unique movie... one of the most bizarre and creative concepts ever captured on film. Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman deserve high praise for unleashing their warped minds and creating a film that almost defies comparison. Yet it has a number of flaws that can't be overlooked. This is certainly a good movie, but I don't consider it to be a true classic.
First of all, it drags on far too long. In particular, the beginning scenes prior to the discovery of the portal are almost painfully overextended and barely held my interest. The dialogue was also very stilted at times. After Craig first visits the portal he figures out far too much about it too quickly. The characters also discuss the philosophical ramifications of the portal in a very ham-handed way. In both cases it seemed that Kaufman felt viewers wouldn't understand the visual symbolism and needed the ideas spelled out in detail (although he may have just been poking fun at film critics).
Some of the scenes are visionary and hilarious (Craig's puppet shows, Malkovich entering his own brain, the trip through his subconscious) but many others fall flat. The result is a mixed bag. The saving grace is the brilliant performance by Malkovich himself. His good natured self-deprecation and his ability to play several wildly different characters make the movie work. I was also impressed with Cameron Diaz, who proved that when freed from the constraints of beauty and bad scripts, she can be a good actress. I was not as impressed with Catherine Keener as most critics were-- her part was well-written, but she wasn't terribly convincing.
In the end, this is a good (7/10) movie that gets an extra point for its spectacular creativity. Spike Jonze shows the potential to be a truly great director. But he isn't quite there yet.