comparing John Malkovich

Rating: 8/10 (22 October 2007)

This wonderful movie is, for me, below Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind in the triple-crown of Charlie Kaufman screenplays, of which Adaptation takes an honourable third place. In both Adaptation and, to a lesser extent, Being John Malkovich, ingenuity ends up taking precedence over emotion, resulting in two hugely entertaining but ultimately rather cool works of cinematic art. In Eternal Sunshine there is a palpable sense of loss of the loved one which, in spite of the less-than-warm casting of Jim Carrey, raises the script of that movie to a higher level.
Of these three master-movies, Being John Malkovich is the one with the most endearing cast. What a bunch! Bumbling Orson Bean, dazzling Christine Keener, crumpled Cameron Diaz, furrowed John Cusak and, of course, that much put-upon all round good sport Mr Malkovich are all a joy. I watched them again on DVD the other evening and it was like meeting old friends.
The other outstanding star of this fine film is the editor Eric Zumbrunnen, who performed the same function on Adaptation. Spike Jonze was at the helm of both movies, and needless to say did a superb job, not least in balancing the technical needs of the film with the relationships between the characters.