The Frayed Ends of Sanity

Rating: 10/10 (12 May 2000)

This movie is so absurd and so way out there that it will be either hated or loved, there cannot be an in-between. In one of his reviews, Roger Ebert noted that many films nowadays display for the viewer some sort of new novelty that will shock or amaze (think of the 'zipper' scene in "...something about Mary") the audience. "Being John Malkovich" is an experience that takes this premise to a whole new level.
I noticed that the film borrows many themes and ideas from Terry Gilliam's film "Brazil". Most interesting to me was the feeling that the director wanted you to fall in love with a particular character, only to twist the story and make you hate them. In the beginning, I sympathized with Craig, the stereotypical loser with a soft side for art, who later turns out to be a greedy jerk. Then there was his neglected, unattractive wife Lotte, whose personality is revealed to be nothing more than sex-driven and stabs her husband's back. So goes the movie, as it was in Brazil, when every character is later revealed to have an obnoxious, repelling side that drives us to another character to seek comfort in, perhaps to put our faith into as the protagonist that will lead us through the film.
Honestly, the beginning led me to believe that Craig would undergo some transformation that would fulfill his dreams, make him a winner. Having this bubble bursted was somehow disconcerting, uncomfortable, yet utterly ingenious.
The movie is mad, it runs at a frenetic pace, with very strange logic. Much of it seems deja vu, as if I've seen it somewhere else before... yet it is done so well it comes off as original, brilliant. And it is.
10 out of 10.