Cute, zany, absurd, and fun . . . but deep? Uh, no.

Rating: 6/10 (1 May 2002)

I had seen this one about a couple years back. My recollection of it was that it was a fun, witty, pretty original comedy, but not especially deep, moving, or inventive. I do have to think that if this is what passes for deep and challenging (or even "BRILLIANT!"), audiences may really be that dumbed down. If you're interested in the philosophical questions this raised (and I say this as a student of philosophy), then go delve into the relevant philosophical texts and you'll find out how superficial a treatment of the subject this is.
The most poignant philosophical question involved is whether one person could *be* another. Does John Malkovich really exist any more as the person he was once a Craig Schwartz takes over? The answer is: Craig Schwartz was being Craig Schwartz, using (what was previously) John Malkovich's body. John M.'s identity is effectively annihilated. And then . . . what? It does raise some serious questions, but the movie didn't point toward any answer because it would have ruined the comic effect of it all. It's not intended to make sense, obviously, but the effect of this, in this movie anyway, isn't intellectual but comic -- that is, because it doesn't really bring any intellectual tools to answer or even really address any of these hard questions. See it as a zany, absurd, light-weird comedy, not as some intellectually engaging masterpiece. It just doesn't deserve to be taken that seriously, and the film's authors seem to agree.
That was my original opinion of the movie, and my second viewing of it in the last couple days left my opinion virtually unchanged.
This site's database tells me that I had registered a vote of 6/10 for this movie. (For me, I try grading on a real curve, so a 6/10 is above-average.) My second viewing of it led me to think either a 6 or a 7 out of 10, and seeing as my previous rating is a 6, my heart isn't in raising it to a 7. 6.5 out of 10 if half-points apply.
One of the more overrated movies on the site, but it seems to have been slowly sliding downward, and rightfully so -- like a number of other overrated flicks from 1999, I might add. (_Matrix_, _Sixth Sense_, _Magnolia_ also come to mind.) This is not lasting cinema.