Original, but not really good

Rating: 5/10 (10 July 2000)

One of the great things about storytelling is, that you are absolutely free. There are no limits to the imagination. Whatever you can think of - in your story it can happen. Unfortunately filmmakers do not very often make use of this unlimited freedom. Most of the movies made these days are just variations of stories that have been told in other movies before.
Every now and then, however, someone has the courage to be original. All it takes is one good idea. That idea does not necessarily have to make great sense - on the contrary! A really weird idea can be the foundation for a really interesting film. Like: "What would happen, if all the birds suddenly started to attack people?" (as in "The Birds"), or: "How would it be, if you had to live through the same day over and over again?" (as in "Groundhog Day").
In "Being John Malkovich" that basic idea is: "Imagine, you would find a gate which leads directly into the brain of John Malkovich." Very original, very weird, very promising!
Unfortunately this time the result falls short of what might have been. The opportunity sure was there. With a setup like this the outcome might have been a hillarious comedy, an exciting thriller, perhaps even a spooky horror-movie. It became neither. Somehow the author could not come up with enough good ideas to give the film the tempo it needed. All the twists and turns that could and should have been in the story are amiss.
One more reason, why this film fails are its characters. I am not talking about the actors here - they are good. But the people they play are not. To really get into a movie like this, audiences need a focal point. A character, they can identify with - the "hero" if you like. Who is that supposed to be here? In the beginning it might have been Craig Schwartz . Professionally unsuccessful, a little bit naive and with some kind of stubborn pride. All in all quite likable - even in spite of his clumsy attempts to cheat on his wife with Maxine , who is a bitch if there ever was one. As the movie goes on, however Craig becomes increasingly mean. He does things, that we feel, we would not do, and thus loses us on the way. And lost we are now, for there is no other potential "hero" to turn to. Maxine is still the bitch, and Lotte is simply to whacky for anybody to identify with her. What happened was: before the supposedly dramatic climax of the story I had ceased to care, for whom there would be a happy ending and for whom there would not. And that is a perfect foundation for being bored. (5/10)