In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
One example: plot : two teen couples go to a church party , drink and then drive .
they get into an accident .
one of the guys dies , but his girlfriend continues to see him in her life , and has nightmares .
what 's the deal ?
watch the movie and " sorta " find out . . .
critique : a mind - fuck movie for the teen generation that touches on a very cool idea , but presents it in a very bad package .
which is what makes this review an even harder one to write , since i generally applaud films which attempt to break the mold , mess with your head and such ( lost highway & memento ) , but there are good and bad ways of making all types of films , and these folks just did n't snag this one correctly
.
they seem to have taken this pretty neat concept , but executed it terribly .
so what are the problems with the movie ?
well , its main problem is that it 's simply too jumbled
.
it starts off " normal " but then downshifts into this " fantasy " world in which you , as an audience member ,
have no idea what 's going on
.
there are dreams , there are characters coming back from the dead , there are others who look like the dead , there are strange apparitions , there are disappearances , there are a looooot of chase scenes , there are tons of weird things that happen , and most of it is simply not explained .
now i personally do n't mind trying to unravel a film every now and then , but when all it does is give me the same clue over and over again , i get kind of fed up after a while , which is this film 's biggest problem .
it 's obviously got this big secret to hide , but it seems to want to hide it completely until its final five minutes .
and do they make things entertaining , thrilling or even engaging , in the meantime ?
not really .
the sad part is that the arrow and i both dig on flicks like this , so we actually figured most of it out by the half - way point , so all of the strangeness after that did start to make a little bit of sense , but it still did n't the make the film all that more entertaining .
i guess the bottom line with movies like this is that you should always make sure that the audience is " into it " even before they are given the secret password to enter your world of understanding .
i mean , showing melissa sagemiller running away from visions for about 20 minutes throughout the movie is just plain lazy ! !
okay , we get it .
. .
there are people chasing her and we do n't know who they are .
do we really need to see it over and over again ?
how about giving us different scenes offering further insight into all of the strangeness going down in the movie ?
apparently , the studio took this film away from its director and chopped it up themselves , and it shows .
there might 've been a pretty decent teen mind - fuck movie in here somewhere , but i guess " the suits " decided that turning it into a music video with little edge , would make more sense .
the actors are pretty good for the most part , although wes bentley just seemed to be playing the exact same character that he did in american beauty , only in a new neighborhood .
but my biggest kudos go out to sagemiller , who holds her own throughout the entire film , and actually has you feeling her character 's unraveling .
overall , the film does n't stick
because it does n't entertain , it 's confusing , it rarely excites and
it feels pretty redundant for most of its runtime , despite a pretty cool ending and explanation to all of the craziness that came before it .
oh ,
and by the way , this is not a horror or teen slasher flick . . .
it 's just packaged to look that way because someone is apparently assuming that the genre is still hot with the kids .
it also wrapped production two years ago and has been sitting on the shelves ever since .
whatever . .
. skip it !
where 's joblo coming from ?
a nightmare of elm street 3 ( 7/10 ) - blair witch 2 ( 7/10 ) - the crow ( 9/10 ) - the crow : salvation ( 4/10 )
- lost highway ( 10/10 ) - memento ( 10/10 ) - the others ( 9/10 ) - stir of echoes ( 8/10 )
Solution is here: N
Explanation: The phrases used in the review convey a negative sentiment (e.g. "presents it in a very bad package").

Now, solve this: three things i learned from " being john malkovich " : when getting on the elevator for your first day of work on the 7 1/2th floor of a building , always bring your crowbar ; do n't stand in the way of your wife 's actualization as a man ; and , whenever entering a portal into the mind of another human being , wear old clothes , because , hey , it 's muddy in there .
" being john malkovich " is the most original film to come down the pike in a very long time .
wildly surrealistic , yet presented in a down - to - earth , funky style ,
this is the kind of movie that sticks in your head .
after savoring the sheer inventiveness of the storyline , you roll around the wealth of ideas contained within it .
from the ethics of relationships and politics of immortality to the very nature of identity itself , there 's a lot to think about here .
just do n't forget to have fun .
clearly , all parties involved in the making of the film certainly did , starting with writer charles kaufman .
"
i wrote ' being john malkovich ' without an outline , " he explains in the press notes , " blindly , with no sense of direction or purpose .
it 's important to me that i do n't have a map before i start .
this allows me to surprise myself , stay engaged , discover things , and , hopefully , allow the unconscious to surface .
"
spike jonze ( mark wahlberg 's na ?
ve buddy in " three kings " ) takes it from there .
the white - hot director of the beastie boy 's " sabotage , " an award - winning parody of ' 70s tv cop shows , as well as numerous other music videos and commercials , eschews typical mtv flash for his feature film debut .
jonze wisely realized that a storyline this unusual is most effectively presented in a low - key style .
his flat , matter - of - fact approach works perfectly .
and then there 's the cast .
john cusack plays control freak craig schwartz , a street performer who periodically gets decked by parents objecting to his remarkably expressive , but decidedly erotic puppet shows .
over the years , his marriage to obsessive pet store employee lotte ( cameron diaz ) has devolved .
once passionate lovers , the two are now little more than courteous roommates .
financially strapped , craig takes a job as an entry - level file clerk at lestercorp , located on the 7 1/2th floor of a manhattan building . navigating around dr .
lester ( orson bean ) ,
his 105 year - old boss and floris ( mary kay place ) , lester 's dotty secretary , craig tries to settle into his new position , but two things keep him distracted .
first , there 's the beautiful and imperious maxine ( catherine keener ) , who delights in tormenting craig over his obvious lust for her .
and then there 's the hole behind the file cabinet , which turns out to be a portal into the mind of actor john malkovich .
craig learns that anyone who enters the portal gets whooshed into the subconscious of malkovich , where they can experience life from his point of view ( with enough concentration , you can even influence his actions ) .
after 15 minutes , the visitor gets ejected and unceremoniously dumped in a ditch on the side of the new jersey turnpike .
then things get a little weird .
by the way , if you 're concerned that i gave away too much of the plot , rest assured - - i barely scratched the surface .
one of the most satisfying aspects of the fable is that kaufman is not content to simply milk laughs from his bizarre set - up .
instead , he crawls into the dark premise as completely as craig crawls into malkovich , rummaging around and toying with the various philosophical implications of compromising another person 's identity .
he also examines the consequences of the malko - visits to craig , lotte , maxine and , of course , john malkovich himself .
the performances are superb .
malkovich ( best known to mainstream audiences for his work in " dangerous liaisons , " " in the line of fire , " and as head psychopath in the guilty - pleasure " con air " ) tweaks his own image in a dandy self - deprecating turn .
far from his effete , vaguely reptilian persona , this malkovich is just another schlub , drinking with his pals and trying to get laid ( incidentally , charlie sheen also plays himself in a hilarious parody of his well - earned bad boy reputation ) .
as always , john cusack nails his part , handily pulling viewers along even as craig 's actions become unconscionable .
the big surprises come from catherine keener and cameron diaz , both playing against type .
kenner , usually cast in icy subordinate roles , is terrific as a highly intelligent , extremely manipulative femme fatale .
cameron diaz , barely recognizable under a mess of brown , curly hair
, sheds her perpetually sunny smile and draws big laughs as a woman thrown into extreme sexual confusion after taking a ride in malkovich .
" being john malkovich " stumbles towards the end , as jonze and kaufman try too hard to resolve the various subplots .
additional characters and increasingly complex explanations lead to a cluttered finale .
regardless , this contemporary " alice in wonderland " is a real treat .
i enjoyed watching " being john malkovich , " but only later , after reflecting on the film , did its resonance fully hit me .
at one point , craig says , " do you know what a metaphysical can of worms this portal is ? " truer words were never spoken .
Solution:
P