The screenplay is a little screwy...

Rating: 9/10 (15 June 2000)

And I don't mean that the movie is weird. I like that. Everyone should appreciate the freshness of this movie. What I mean is that the screenplay is a little uneven. When I first saw this film (on opening day, luckily), I liked it a lot but felt that there was a major problem. It took me months to figure out why I felt this way, but I did finally figure it out, and I have confirmed it on subsequent viewings.
The first half hour or so, all the screen time before the portal is found, contains an entirely different humor than the rest of the picture. And this humor is mostly childish and unfunny. The secretary and the joke about her being an expert on speaking disabilities was very unfunny. I feel embarrassed when I watch it it's so bad. The video about why the 7 1/2 floor exists is also extremely unfunny, as well as the 7 1/2 floor itself. I didn't find any of these things funny, and there were even more than that. I did like the puppet show that Craig gave on the street corner, I did like Dr. Lester's sexual rantings (although dirty old men jokes are really commonplace), and I laughed a lot when Craig was guessing Maxine's name.

Fortunately, when the portal is found, the childish humor pretty much completely vanishes. The rest of this movie is very intelligent. Every joke hits. There are no misses like there are in the first half hour.
But what is really special about this film is how smoothly it becomes a compelling drama and character study. It is so well filmed. Watch how the Craig, Lottie, and Maxine dolls are used all through the film. I really felt it when Maxine was covering up the Lottie puppet. I actually teared up during the chase through Malkovich's subconscious, which I think is probably the single best scene that appeared in a film in 1999. And I also wept at the very, very, very beautiful ending. The second time I saw this in a theater, they cut out the beginning of the credit sequence where Emily was swimming, and I absolutely screamed, telling everyone in the theater about the sham that had been pulled. And I found the ending even more startling on the third viewing because I hadn't realized what actually happened to Craig at the end on my first and second viewings.
I love this movie, so I am very hurt by the childish humor in the first half hour. It does embarrass me. It detracts from the whole film. Overall, I have to give it a 9/10.