Malkovich is marvelous

Rating: 8/10 (27 May 2007)

A bizarre and deliciously inventive comedy. Cusack is excellent as a puppeteer who stumbles into a portal that leads to the head of John Malkovich. Keener is a delight as a woman that Cusack and wife Diaz are both attracted to. TV veterans Bean and Place provide good support. And nobody plays John Malkovich better than John Malkovich. His is a masterfully controlled performance that does not lapse into caricature. Like screenwriter Kaufman's "Adaptation" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Minde," this film is based on a far-fetched premise, but, whereas those two films fall apart after promising starts, the brilliance is sustained here. A good deal of the credit for that goes to Jonze.