Fun that leaves you pondering...

Rating: Null/10 (29 April 2000)

I don't think Being John Malkovich is a great film, but it did deserve the Best Original Screenplay Award far more than American Beauty. There are flaws to the film, many non sequiturs and overloads on plot threads. However, Spike Jonze's debut is essentially an ingenious look at being obsessed and infatuated, whether with celebrity, sex, or the idea of eternal life. The truth is all three have their flaws and their mediocrity, just like us. The film has sparks of brilliance: does anybody recognize EXACTLY where on the Tpk. they filmed it? Of course it's a perfect endpoint because on the New Jersey Turnpike, you're either in such a rush or so bored by the lack of scenery that you don't bother to look left or right to see people falling from the sky. Besides that, for the next week, I will recall with a giggle a scene of a restaurant full of bald-headed men and women reading from menus of "Malkovich, Malkovich, MALKOVICH!"

The characters here are almost all pathetic, yet at the same time I didn't get a sense of sarcasm on Jonze's part as with Anderson in Boogie Nights. Here, they were simply deeply flawed people. It was tragic to see how Cusack replicated his sad-sack self within the body of Malkovich, even while able to bring his puppetry to new heights. Diaz was a real revelation here, playing totally against type, believable in all her goofy nerdiness, though she is known for much sexier roles. Keener, (also great in Living in Oblivion) was great to watch here, though an absolute cow!
I would rather see Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze's work anytime than something that purports to be high art and preaches to the audience instead of entertaining it. Being John Malkovich establishes itself as, and remains for the most part, a rewarding goofy comedy, with some tender moments and food for our heads at the end. Even if we could leave our own bodies for the mind of John Malkovich, we wouldn't be able to escape who we are. So why try?