Insanely inventive

Rating: Null/10 (15 June 2000)

Something lures me to ridiculous movies even though most of them turn out to be bad movies. Not this one. John Malkovich also starred in another ridiculous movie called ConAir. What makes these movies work is that they KNOW they are ridiculous and do little to deny it, and that's the key.
Now that doesn't give filmmakers the liberty to go willy-nilly (to quote the Free I-net guy) with senseless, mind-numbing drivel. But it does grant them imagination and the opportunity to go where other movies have never gone before (to quote whoever said that).
I like how even though the Cusack character must have some kind of sick mind to perform sexual maneuvers with puppets in front of little girls, we still get to see things from his point of view, and he is as flabbergasted as we are. Take, for instance, when he accepts a job that is located on the 7 1/2 floor. How on earth do you get there? You hit the emergency stop button shortly after you go past the 7th floor and then pry open the door with a crowbar, of course.
It turns out to be disasterous to John Malkovich that a puppeteer of all people is the one to find a portal to his brain. But that's where all the fun starts, and the film never stops giving you surprises and twists. I've seen some movies that are funny and smart, but this may be the first one that's funny and brilliant.
I only wish that Cameron Diaz had put one of her pets down the chute, that would've really put the filmmakers imaginations on overtime.
**** (out of 4)