Being John Malkovich (1999) - IMDb IMDb 29 December 2016 2:33 AM, UTC NEWS There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC A puppeteer discovers a portal that leads literally into the head of movie star John Malkovich . Director: a list of 39 titles created 03 Apr 2011 a list of 49 titles created 05 Oct 2014 a list of 40 titles created 29 Nov 2014 a list of 30 titles created 05 Jul 2015 a list of 25 titles created 09 Dec 2015 Title: Being John Malkovich (1999) 7.8/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Nominated for 3 Oscars.

Another 48 wins & 75 nominations. See more awards » Videos A lovelorn screenwriter becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean for the screen. Director: Spike Jonze An epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness, and meaning in the San Fernando Valley. Director: Paul Thomas Anderson A theatre director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play. Director: Charlie Kaufman The story of a young man's adventures in the Californian pornography industry of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Director: Paul Thomas Anderson A faded movie star and a neglected young woman form an unlikely bond after crossing paths in Tokyo. Director: Sofia Coppola An oddball journalist and his psychopathic lawyer travel to Las Vegas for a series of psychedelic escapades. Director: Terry Gilliam An estranged family of former child prodigies reunites when their father announces he is terminally ill.

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Despite not being able to earn a living solely through puppeteering, Craig loves his profession as it allows him to inhabit the skin of others. He begins to take the ability to inhabit the skin of others to the next level when he is forced to take a job as a file clerk for the off-kilter LesterCorp, located on the five-foot tall 7½ floor of a Manhattan office building. Behind one of the filing cabinets in his work area, Craig finds a hidden door which he learns is a portal into the mind of John Malkovich , the visit through the portal which lasts fifteen minutes after which the person is spit into a ditch next to the New Jersey Turnpike. Craig is fascinated by the meaning of life associated with this finding. Lotte's trips through the portal make her evaluate her own self. And the confident Maxine Lund, one of Craig's co-workers who he tells about the ... Written by Huggo Ever Wanted To Be Someone Else?

See more » Genres: Rated R for language and sexuality | See all certifications » Parents Guide: 3 December 1999 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Biti John Malkovich See more » Filming Locations: $637,721 (USA) (29 October 1999) Gross: Did You Know? Trivia Orson Bean and Charlie Sheen would later co-star in an episode of Two and a Half Men (2003). See more » Goofs When Lotte is chasing Maxine through Malkovich's subconscious, as Maxine drops into the school bus section you can clearly see someone's hand holding her skirt so she doesn't fall into the bus. See more » Quotes Lotte Schwartz : Craig, honey, it's time for bed.

[fade out and in] Orrin Hatch the bird: Craig, honey, time to get up, Craig, honey, time to get up, Craig, honey, time to get up, Craig, honey, time to get up, at the end of the cast listing is noted ...and John Malkovich See more » Connections (Michigan, USA) – See all my reviews BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (1999) **** Starring: John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Orson Bean, Catherine Keener, John Malkovich, and Charlie Sheen Director: Spike Jonze Running Time: 113 minutes Rated R (for sexuality and language) By Blake French: It is not every day that I use words in my movie reviews such as unique, creative, inventive, imaginative, original, fresh, mesmerizing, and unmatched. Under the circumstances of "Being John Malkovich," a wonderfully hilarious presentation of an incomprehensible idea, I find myself using every one of those phrases and then some more being deserved. Everything about it is labyrinthine, intriguing, and very funny. It is one of the years best films, and should be well presented come Academy Award time.

"Being John Malkovich" details the relationship between Craig and Lotte Schwartz. They basically live an old fashioned life in a small apartment with a miniature zoo of pets and a puppet factory inside. Lotte is a typical, unattractive homemaker while Craig holds that unusual occupation of being a professional puppeteer. Desperately searching for employment, Craig soon visits a business for an interview as a filer when he discovers for some odd reason the construction of the office floor is all but several feet tall, forcing all employees to bend over backwards just to walk around. One of those employees is named Maxine, a highly seductive co-worker of Craig's. When he asks her out for a beer one night, Craig experiences lustful thoughts about her, and nearly begins an affair as his seemingly loving wife wonders around her happy little apartment all by herself. As you can see, the household isn't exactly a joyful situation. All things change, from blossoming sexual confusion to inner self-esteem, when Craig uncovers a small door behind a filing cabinet in his office. It is tucked away, hidden acutely well in a dark corner, which is found mysteriously by accident when Craig droops a paper behind the cabinet.

After Craig explores this deep miniature, seemingly endless hallway, he discovers this secret door leads to the brain of actor John Malkovich for fifteen minutes, then spits you out along the roadside afterwards. Wow, sounds like "Alice in Wonderland," doesn't it...well, sort of. Craig first tells his co-worker about his discovery, who continues to think he's nuts. Then, after explaining and showing this portal to his wife, who is hysterical, Maxine begins to believe Craig, and concoct a devilish idea. To sell tickets allowing a pedestrian to enter the mind of a famous celebrity. The tagline: Ever wanted to be someone else? Now you can. It is very intriguing how the narrative point of view is juggled between Craig and then Lotte after the problem is introduced and then solved: the couples dead-end lives are lifted in glory. This creates a second conflict moving us smoothly into the second act. Perfect internal problems are created with the two female leads; Lotte and Maxine find themselves physically attracted to each other in unbelievable character twists. The two end up having a femininity sexual relationship while one is entrapped in the mind of Malkovich, and the other experiences the actual Malkovich.

It is a beautifully crafted structure, with act breaks so clear and complications so faultless it is no wonder while this is such an effective picture. Also first rate here are the performances. Although the film offers strange types of roles for these actors to indulge themselves in, they do a wonderfully energetic job. Cameron Diaz is flawlessly cast as Craig's sexually and mentally uncoordinated wife, and delivers us a comically riotous character. John Cusack as Craig himself is superior and believable as a down on his luck puppeteer, and possesses a perfect blend of humor and unpredictable qualities with his character. Also quite good here, John Malkovich, who has much more of a difficult role than one would think. He has some hard scenes where Craig controls him while inside his mind, which requires great skill to perform. However, better than any performance, and more amazing then any flawless characters or plot, is the concept of a human being thinking up such an absurd idea as the imagination behind the beauty of "Being John Malkovich." With such a penetrating, magical atmosphere to it, it is kind of a shame that the filmmakers created this film in the form of a black comedy instead of something more harrowing.

Although comedy is simply the most logical choice to categorize this type of film, wouldn't it have been interesting to see this movie as a drama, or perhaps as a spiritual awakening picture. Regardless, the film still has an oddly powerful message to it, which I will not, nor do I ever directly reveal in any of my reviews. You see, since different individuals come from different backgrounds, and thus see things differently. It is because of this that I do not allow my personal take on a message persuade another filmgoer whose idea of a moral may be much different than my own. But I will say that "Being John Malkovich" might not overtake the box office, but for appreciative movie patrons, this one is sure to be treasured for a long time to come. Brought to you by Gramercy Pictures. 131 of 192 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes Super Reviewer ½ [img] Spike Jonze's wittily-written, incredibly acted comedy drama about a disgruntled but ambitious puppeteer who to his amazement finds a peculiar, mystical portal into the mind of John Malkovich, is a brilliantly surreal and mind boggling experience.

It's profoundly original dream-like narrative exploring humanities selfishness and one's desire to be something else makes it consitently entertaining and builds up to an utterly unforgettable cinematic experience. Charlie Kaufman's clever yet non self-indulgent script creates some very awkward but hilarious situations for the characters and flawlessly disguises the insane fableness and fantasy of the story and it's characters infinitely believable. He went on to work with director Michel Gondry and wrote his masterpiece; Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, which I think is one of the best films ever made. He is arguably one of the most talneted art-house writers out there today and although he makes very few films the one's that he does work on are always brilliant. In the interesting case of Being John Malkovich, performance-wise it is perfect, Cameron Diaz and John Cusack advertise some fantastic chemistry, but the greatest stand-out is easily John Malkovich who is just perfect and undeniably engaging at being/playing John Malkovich. Catherine Keener is also great as the bitterly inhuman anti-hero, and Jonze's outstanding direction nails the film as a landmark.

I think it's one of the best directorial debuts of all time, and if your not laughing at it, or being moved by it, you'll certainly be admiring it. It's a strange and emotionally detatching screen presence but in my opinion it's one of the best of it's kind. Endlessly fascinating and completely extraordinary. Directors Cat Super Reviewer Lotte Schwartz: I think it's kinda sexy that John Malkovich has a portal, y'know, sort of like, it's like, like he has a vagina. It's sort of vaginal, y'know, like he has a, he has a penis AND a vagina. I mean, it's sort of like... Malkovich's... feminine side. I like that. "Ever want to be someone else? Now you can." Charlie Kauffman's and Spike Jonze's first team up is a complete masterpiece. This is a movie unlike any you have ever seen and is only equaled in brilliance and originality by another film that was written by Kauffman, Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind.

Being John Malkovich is a bizarre, eccentric, out in outer space film that is sure to turn some people off based purely on just how weird a film it is. For those who love bizarre, when it is genius, will love this one. Craig Schwartz is a puppeteer, but there isn't much demand for his profession, so he has to take a job as a filer. While there, he finds a small door behind a filing cabinet and enters. Turns out that door is a portal into John Malkovich's mind. He teams up with a beautiful co-worker, who he is smitten for and starts selling trips into Malkovich's mind at $200 a pop. There's a lot of weirdness going on including a secretary that can't understand a word anyone says, an office on the 7 1/2 floor that is half the height of a normal floor, and a love... square. Describing a film like Being John Malkovich is a hard thing to do. People who love, don't see it as just a weird movie, while people who hate it see it only as that. With all the weird stuff that is going on in Kauffman's screenplay, there is just as much intelligent stuff going on.

Most of it is the same. There's something altogether brilliant about every single thing going on here. From looking into the mind of a chimp to having a setting placed on a floor that isn't really a floor to Keener's character being in love with Diaz's because she senses Diaz's presence in Malkovich's when they make love. You can't help but just be swept up by it all. Or at least I can't. If you're familiar with Kauffman's and Jonze's other works, you know that both of them are in love with the bizarre. So when they get together for movies like this and like Adaption, the end result is no less than warped, but also no less than amazing. If you want to watch something truly original in just about every facet; this is a must watch. If you don't like movies that are trying to do something outside of the routine, boring movies that are mass made each year, don't watch it. For those who can accept the films eccentricity, you'll find a movie that is made with pure imagination and love. Being John Malkovich is easily one of my favorite movies of all-time. I could watch it a thousand times and still love every single moment of it.

Melvin White Super Reviewer Be All That Someone Else Can Be Excellent FIlm! I enjoyed it alot! Great acting and storyline, funny, clever and insane film. Don't worry if this all sounds a little strange to you, it should do, it's probably the most surreal film ever made. Go see it! Craig, a puppeteer, takes a filing job in a low-ceilinged office in Manhattan. Although married to the slightly askew Lotte, he hits on a colleague, the sexually frank Maxine. She's bored but snaps awake when he finds a portal leading inside John Malkovich: for 15 minutes you see, hear, and feel whatever JM is doing, then you fall out by the New Jersey Turnpike. Maxine makes it commercial, selling trips for $200; also, she's more interested in Lotte than in Craig, but only when Lotte is inside JM. JM finds out what's going on and tries to stop it, but Craig sees the portal as his road to Maxine and to success as a puppeteer. Meanwhile, Lotte discovers others interested in the portal.

Manu Gino Being John Malkovich Movie Review (1999) | Roger Ebert Tweet What an endlessly inventive movie this is! Charlie Kaufman , the writer of "Being John Malkovich," supplies a stream of dazzling inventions, twists and wicked paradoxes. And the director, Spike Jonze , doesn't pounce on each one like fresh prey, but unveils it slyly, as if there's more where that came from. Rare is the movie where the last half hour surprises you just as much as the first, and in ways you're not expecting. The movie has ideas enough for half a dozen films, but Jonze and his cast handle them so surely that we never feel hard-pressed; we're enchanted by one development after the next. Advertisement John Cusack stars as Craig, a street puppeteer. His puppets are dark and neurotic creatures, and the public doesn't much like them. Craig's wife, Lotte, runs a pet store, and their home is overrun with animal boarders, most of them deeply disturbed.

Lotte is played by Cameron Diaz , one of the best-looking women in movies, who here looks so dowdy we hardly recognize her; Diaz has fun with her talent by taking it incognito to strange places and making it work for a living. The puppeteer can't make ends meet in "today's wintry job climate." He answers a help-wanted ad and finds himself on floor 7 1/2 of a building. This floor, and how it looks, and why it was built, would be inspiration enough for an entire film or a Monty Python sketch. It makes everything that happens on it funny in an additional way, on top of why it's funny in the first place. The film is so rich, however, that the floor is merely the backdrop for more astonishments. Craig meets a co-worker named Maxine ( Catherine Keener ) and lusts for her. She asks, "Are you married?" He says, "Yeah, but enough about me." They go out for a drink. He says "I'm a puppeteer." She says, "Waiter?

Check, please." Keener has this way of listening with her lips slightly parted, as if eager to interrupt by deconstructing what you just said and exposing you for the fool that you are. Advertisement Behind a filing cabinet on the 7 1/2th floor, Craig finds a small doorway. He crawls through it, and is whisked through some kind of temporal-spatial portal, ending up inside the brain of the actor John Malkovich . Here he stays for exactly 15 minutes, before falling from the sky next to the New Jersey Turnpike. Whoa! What an experience. Maxine pressures him to turn it into a business, charging people to spend their 15 minutes inside Malkovich. The movie handles this not as a gimmick but as the opportunity for material that is somehow funny and serious, sad and satirical, weird and touching, all at once. Malkovich himself is part of the magic. He is not playing himself here, but a version of his public image--distant, quiet, droll, as if musing about things that happened long ago and were only mildly interesting at the time.

It took some courage for him to take this role, but it would have taken more courage to turn it down. It's a plum. Advertisement Why are people so eager to enter his brain? For the novelty, above all. Spend a lifetime being yourself and it would be worth money to spend 15 minutes being almost anybody else. At one point, there's a bit of a traffic jam. Lotte finds herself inside his mind while Maxine is seducing him. Lotte enjoys this experience and decides she wants to become a lesbian, or a man. Whatever it takes. This is hard to explain, but trust me. The movie just keeps getting better. I don't want to steal the surprises and punch lines. Even a Charlie Sheen cameo is inspired. At one point Malkovich enters himself through his own portal, which is kind of like being pulled down into the black hole of your own personality, and that trip results in one of the most peculiar single scenes I've ever seen in the movies. Orchestrating all this, Cusack's character stays cool; to enter another man's mind is of course the ultimate puppeteering experience. Every once in a long, long while a movie comes along that is like no other.

A movie that creates a new world for us and uses it to produce wonderful things. " Forrest Gump " was a movie like that, and so in their different ways were "MASH," "This Is Spinal Tap" (1985), " After Hours ," " Babe " and " There's Something About Mary ." What do such films have in common? Nothing. That's the point. Each one stakes out a completely new place and colonizes it with limitless imagination. Either "Being John Malkovich" gets nominated for best picture, or the members of the Academy need portals into their brains. Advertisement Being John Malkovich (1999) | Download Film Ganool Being John Malkovich Gramercy Pictures, Propaganda Films, Single Cell Pictures Popularity Plot Keyword : individual, transvestism, sexual identity, witch, identity, subconsciousness, new identity, pet, chimp, puppeteer, appropriation of another human being, externally controlled action, married couple, brain, pet shop, door, secret love Homepage Dans la peau de John Malkovitch ByÄ jak John Malkovich Â¿Quieres ser John Malkovich?

è®è ¦ ç©è°¢éº¦é«ç»´æ²» A John Malkovich menet Plot Puppeteer Craig Schwartz and animal lover and pet store clerk Lotte Schwartz are just going through the motions of their marriage. Despite not being able to earn a living solely through puppeteering, Craig loves his profession as it allows him to inhabit the skin of others. He begins to take the ability to inhabit the skin of others to the next level when he is forced to take a job as a file clerk for the off-kilter LesterCorp, located on the five-foot tall 7½ floor of a Manhattan office building. Behind one of the filing cabinets in his work area, Craig finds a hidden door which he learns is a portal into the mind of John Malkovich, the visit through the portal which lasts fifteen minutes after which the person is spit into a ditch next to the New Jersey Turnpike. Craig is fascinated by the meaning of life associated with this finding. Lotte's trips through the portal make her evaluate her own self.

And the confident Maxine Lund, one of Craig's co-workers who he tells about the portal if only because he is attracted to her, thinks that it is a money making opportunity in selling trips into Malkovich's mind after office hours for $200 a visit. Craig, Lotte and Maxine begin to understand that anyone entering the portal has the ability to control Malkovich's mind, which also alters his entire being. This experience makes Maxine fall in love with a composite. This ability to control Malkovich's mind begs the question of the ultimate psychedelic trip for Malkovich himself, who begins to feel that something is not right in the world as he knows it. Characters : Craig Schwartz ‎Being John Malkovich (1999) directed by Spike Jonze • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd 45 You’d be hard pressed to find a more startling or complete debut in the past twenty years than Spike Jonze’s absurdly brilliant, Being John Malkovich. With a premise almost too perfect to be real and a razor-sharp script to match it is one of the last modern classics of the ‘90s. It’s an intricately structured and surreal masterpiece full of existential melancholy and offbeat whimsy.

It is the synthesis of two creative forces (Jonze and screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman) working in perfect harmony to create a work that was quite unlike anything else at the time. In lesser hands it would have been little more than a failed experiment with a bizarre synopsis but this is a dense, provocative, witty and… 7 The first half hour of Being John Malkovich is one of the best comedies ever created, everything after that one of the best dramas. The film has one of the most fucked up premises of all time and the one responsible for it is of course the screenwriting genius Charlie Kaufman. As always, the complexity of his writing amazes; how does one come up with an idea like this? The fact that he moreover manages to make it work without just becoming silly is even more remarkable. It is one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of comedy filmmaking, also for the reason that it not only makes you laugh, but contemplate existence and endure emotional hits as well.… 7 Being John Malkovich is one of the best and most unique films I have ever seen. It is so innovative and mystifying, while at the same time telling a fascinating story.

I may just be on a high from this movie, but I think it is a new favorite of mine. Simply put, it is a masterpiece. Well-written and well-directed, it is technically flawless. The cinematography is beautifully dull when it needs to be, and amazingly pompous when it should be. My experience with this movie was intoxicating. It is completely engrossing from start to finish. The characters are raw and the concept rivals the awesomeness of Inception. Self-imprisonment and the sensation of being trapped in your own body is… 1 Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman never seem to shy away from going weird but amazing. The story is about a skillful puppeteer finds the perfect puppet when he discovers a portal in his new office on a "half" floor. It leads him literally into the brain of John Malkovich. He and his discoverer try make a living off of others interests while his wife becomes jealous. Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze are the two people that can take a weird and strange story and make it amazingly well made and as a viewer you some how correct to it with no reason to it.

I don't think I ever came across a bad movie from these genius of directing and… Being John Malkovich | Movie | 1999 Synopsis A man takes a new job on the 7th-and-a-half floor of an office building and stumbles upon a membranous room that leads inside the head of stage and screen actor John Malkovich. There he can see life through Malkovich's eyes before being systematically ejected from the room and onto the New Jersey turnpike. The man then rents out Malkovich's head to others, eventually letting his wife inside where she falls in love with another woman who, in turn, thinks she has fallen in love with John Malkovich. SIMILAR ARTICLES Being John Malkovich YIFY subtitles One of the most unique, imaginative movies ever made.

**** out of ****9/10 BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (1999) **** Starring: John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Orson Bean, Catherine Keener, John Malkovich, and Charlie Sheen Director: Spike Jonze Running Time: 113 minutes Rated R (for sexuality and language) By Blake French: It is not every day that I use words in my movie reviews such as unique, creative, inventive, imaginative, original, fresh, mesmerizing, and unmatched. Under the circumstances of "Being John Malkovich," a wonderfully hilarious presentation of an incomprehensible idea, I find myself using every one of those phrases and then some more being deserved. Everything about it is labyrinthine, intriguing, and very funny. It is one of the years best films, and should be well presented come Academy Award time. "Being John Malkovich" details the relationship between Craig and Lotte Schwartz. They basically live an old fashioned life in a small apartment with a miniature zoo of pets and a puppet factory inside. Lotte is a typical, unattractive homemaker while Craig holds that unusual occupation of being a professional puppeteer.

Desperately searching for employment, Craig soon visits a business for an interview as a filer when he discovers for some odd reason the construction of the office floor is all but several feet tall, forcing all employees to bend over backwards just to walk around. One of those employees is named Maxine, a highly seductive co-worker of Craig's. When he asks her out for a beer one night, Craig experiences lustful thoughts about her, and nearly begins an affair as his seemingly loving wife wonders around her happy little apartment all by herself. As you can see, the household isn't exactly a joyful situation. All things change, from blossoming sexual confusion to inner self-esteem, when Craig uncovers a small door behind a filing cabinet in his office. It is tucked away, hidden acutely well in a dark corner, which is found mysteriously by accident when Craig droops a paper behind the cabinet. After Craig explores this deep miniature, seemingly endless hallway, he discovers this secret door leads to the brain of actor John Malkovich for fifteen minutes, then spits you out along the roadside afterwards. Wow, sounds like "Alice in Wonderland," doesn't it...well, sort of.

Craig first tells his co-worker about his discovery, who continues to think he's nuts. Then, after explaining and showing this portal to his wife, who is hysterical, Maxine begins to believe Craig, and concoct a devilish idea. To sell tickets allowing a pedestrian to enter the mind of a famous celebrity. The tagline: Ever wanted to be someone else? Now you can. It is very intriguing how the narrative point of view is juggled between Craig and then Lotte after the problem is introduced and then solved: the couples dead-end lives are lifted in glory. This creates a second conflict moving us smoothly into the second act. Perfect internal problems are created with the two female leads; Lotte and Maxine find themselves physically attracted to each other in unbelievable character twists. The two end up having a femininity sexual relationship while one is entrapped in the mind of Malkovich, and the other experiences the actual Malkovich. It is a beautifully crafted structure, with act breaks so clear and complications so faultless it is no wonder while this is such an effective picture. Also first rate here are the performances. Although the film offers strange types of roles for these actors to indulge themselves in, they do a wonderfully energetic job.

Cameron Diaz is flawlessly cast as Craig's sexually and mentally uncoordinated wife, and delivers us a comically riotous character. John Cusack as Craig himself is superior and believable as a down on his luck puppeteer, and possesses a perfect blend of humor and unpredictable qualities with his character. Also quite good here, John Malkovich, who has much more of a difficult role than one would think. He has some hard scenes where Craig controls him while inside his mind, which requires great skill to perform. However, better than any performance, and more amazing then any flawless characters or plot, is the concept of a human being thinking up such an absurd idea as the imagination behind the beauty of "Being John Malkovich." With such a penetrating, magical atmosphere to it, it is kind of a shame that the filmmakers created this film in the form of a black comedy instead of something more harrowing. Although comedy is simply the most logical choice to categorize this type of film, wouldn't it have been interesting to see this movie as a drama, or perhaps as a spiritual awakening picture. Regardless, the film still has an oddly powerful message to it, which I will not, nor do I ever directly reveal in any of my reviews.

You see, since different individuals come from different backgrounds, and thus see things differently. It is because of this that I do not allow my personal take on a message persuade another filmgoer whose idea of a moral may be much different than my own. But I will say that "Being John Malkovich" might not overtake the box office, but for appreciative movie patrons, this one is sure to be treasured for a long time to come. Brought to you by Gramercy Pictures. source Insanely brilliant and brilliantly insane.10/10 All hail Spike Jonze for he is a genius. Not content with being the undisputed king of music videos, he's set his sights on full-length-feature-films. One might imagine that the often surreal, always innovative humour of his short music promos might not transfer across to a much longer production  like hell. Being John Malkovich' is a fresh exciting stroke of genius. John Cusack is Craig Schwartz, an unemployed puppeteer looser guy. In order to earn a living he is forced to find himself a regular job, only it soon becomes apparent that regular it is not.

Working as a filing clerk on floor seven and a half, Craig stumbles across a portal into John Malkovich's head. No, really, that's what happens. Anyway, he turns this into a business venture with help from the beautiful Maxine (Catherine Keener), whom he lusts after. Maxine is more interested, however, in his wife, Lotte (Diaz, like you've never seen her before) but only when she's being John Malkovich. Don't worry if this all sounds a little strange to you, it should do, it's probably the most surreal film ever made. I obviously can't give all the credit for this to director Spike Jonze; Charlie Kaufman is the genius that wrote this insanity. He's the most acutely imaginative and ingenious man of our time. With such a fantastic cast the acting is of course superb; everyone's brilliant, especially Malkovich himself. Well obviously, you say, he's playing himself  yes, but he's also playing himself being played by an increasingly psychotic puppeteer. Monkey flash backs and a restaurant full of Malkoviches are highlights of the insanely brilliant and brilliantly insane movie.

If you thought that Spike Jonez could never top the Daft Punk talking dog video, you have never been so wrong in your life. 10/10 source I want to be John Malkovich.10/10 This film was absolutely incredible. Attempting to explain the plot in any way that would do it justice would be an excercise in futility, but let it be said that I see many, many movies, and in my lifetime, I have never seen a movie such as Being John Malkovitch. The acting is completely brilliant .. Cameron Diaz is nearly unrecognizable, both in behavior and appearance, as is John Cusack. John Malkovich was presented with an interesting opportunity in playing himself, and he seems to have seized the opportunity with relish. He is most definitely not being himself in front of the camera, but instead creates this wonderful character of John Malkovich the vessel. I've admired Spike Jonez's work for a good long time, and I'm pleased to say that in his first full length feature as a director, he succeeds with flying colors in creating an original, beautiful, humorous, and good natured picture.

See Being John Malkovich, because come Oscar time, you're going to want to know why its winning! source Brilliant, Unique Film10/10 What does it feel like to be inside someone else's skin? Some people find out in the highly imaginative `Being John Malkovich,' directed with style by Spike Jonze, and starring John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener and John Malkovich. When out of work puppeteer Craig Schwartz (Cusack) gets a job as a file clerk on the `7 1/2' floor of an office building, it's the beginning of a bizarre interlude that will ultimately take him, and a few others as well, into a realm beyond the known. One day he discovers a small doorway hidden behind a filing cabinet; curious, he ventures into the dark beyond and is suddenly sucked into the mind of actor John Malkovich. After fifteen minutes of seeing through Malkovich's eyes, and experiencing what the actor is experiencing, Craig is just as suddenly and inexplicably dropped into a ditch beside the New Jersey Turnpike.

Unable to contain himself, he confides what has happened to him to Maxine (Catherine Keener), a woman who also works on 7 1/2. Immediately, she sees money in the prospect of having a portal into the mind of John Malkovich, and she convinces Craig that they should start a business: `J.M. Inc.' For two hundred dollars a pop, people can have the experience of a lifetime. Jonze has taken a unique screenplay that is clever, witty, humorous and totally engrossing, and turned it into one of the most ingenious films to come our way in a long, long time. In fact, there's never been anything quite like it. It is distinct and filled with nuance and subtle shades of humor, sometimes dark, sometimes hilarious, but riveting throughout. And the performances are absolutely first rate all around. Keener deservedly got the Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actress, but Cusack, Diaz and Bean are also exemplary here.

Cusack comes through with one of the best characters he's ever done; there's an edgy, quiet intelligence to Craig, a Bohemian at heart, with a wife, Lotte (Diaz), and an apartment full of pets (snakes, birds and a chimp). He's reserved, generally takes things as they come, and exudes a certain boyish charm when he becomes smitten with Maxine. Diaz, taking on a decidedly unglamorous role, is terrific as Lotte, the somewhat unremarkable pet shop clerk who comes alive after experiencing the `portal.' It's a great character part, and Diaz plays it for all it's worth, connecting with the audience while ably conveying Lotte's sense of confusion and repressed yearnings. And Orson Bean nearly steals the show as Dr. Lester, Craig's boss, the hundred-and-five year old man with a secret that holds the key to the portal. It's a memorable performance filled with nuance and subtle humor; the scene in which he interviews job-applicant Craig is classic.

Malkovich (as himself) is the icing on the cake; he plays it straight, with a finesse and distinction that makes the unbelievable somehow credible, while lending an easy, natural flow to the innate humor of the story. The `Malkovich, Malkovich,' sequence, and his rendition of the puppet's dance are unforgettable scenes. The supporting cast includes Mary Kay Place (Floris), Charlie Sheen (Charlie), Carlos Jacott (Larry), Willie Garson (Guy in restaurant) and Byrne Piven (Captain Mertin). Written by Charlie kaufman, `Being John Malkovich' is a movie that is an experience in itself. And Jonze and his entire cast should be given a standing ovation for bringing this one to life, for making it breathe. It's the kind of film you wait for to come along, but rarely does, and it demands to be seen more than once. Like Lotte, once you've been through the portal, you have to do it again; once you've tasted the nectar, there's no turning back. 10/10. source It's Out And There's Nothing Like It10/10 Being John Malkovich leaves you astounded.

What happened in that dark theater? Twist and turn, one thing more fantastical than the next, this movie is 100 % UNIQUE. Even the introduction and the setting of the film are outlandish to say the least. The movie develops quickly, plummetting viewers into the warped world it creates; while the surroundings are strange, they are presented without leaving the audience convinced and I found that my questions about Malkovich's mysterious portal, such as "What happens if John Malkovich goes into his own portal?", were answered. The directoral work in John Malkovich is quite interested at times as well. Seeing the world through John Malkovich's eyes is not an easy feat to accomplish, but is done tactfully. However, it is the interactions between the characters that fortifies this film. Cuscack, completely smitten by Catherine Keener's character, finds that his love is unrequited. There are more twists in this story, but that's for you to find out, now isn't it? So be John Malkovich!

Being John Malkovich | Variety Print September 3, 1999 | 12:00AM PT "Being John Malkovich" is a metaphysical comic love story about the desire to be someone else and the urge to control another person's thoughts and actions. This maze-like journey, by first-time feature-helmer Spike Jonze and scribe Charlie Kaufman, touches on questions of love, identity, sex, gender and penetration with a playful perverseness few other semi-mainstream productions would ever dare to dabble in. Hot musicvideo and commercials creator Spike Jonze makes a bracingly original entry into the feature-film arena with “Being John Malkovich ,” which also marks a no-less-auspicious bow for writer Charlie Kaufman , whose first produced screenplay this is. A metaphysical comic love story about the desire to be someone else and the urge to control another person’s thoughts and actions, this maze-like journey touches on questions of love, identity, sex, gender and penetration with a playful perverseness few other semi-mainstream productions would ever dare to dabble in.

Devilishly inventive and so far out there it’s almost off the scale, the film should see smart urban audiences turning out in force but may be too dark and eccentric to conquer a broader marketplace. U.S. opening is set for Oct. 29. While its title might sound bizarre anywhere other than on a docu portrait of the actor, the work itself goes beyond odd, taking its unconventional outlandishness to hilarious, dizzying heights. Yet what makes it so fresh is the decision to treat even the story’s most surreal inventions in real, rather than fantastical terms, placing Kaufman’s peculiar universe in everyday New York City, with characters who register each surprise development as merely another unusual but not incredible crease in the fabric of their lives. At the center of this world is talented but esoteric street puppeteer Craig Schwartz ( John Cusack ), whose darkly sexual marionette dramas prove unpalatable to most NYC pedestrians. Equally unfulfilling is his marriage to frumpy pet-store staffer Lotte (a startlingly deglamorized Cameron Diaz), whose priorities revolve primarily around kitty litter deliveries and the neuroses of her traumatized chimp, one of a menagerie of animals inhabiting their dingy apartment.

Driven by lack of income to find a job, Craig answers an ad for a nimble-fingered filing clerk in offices located on a Manhattan building’s low-ceilinged 7-1/2th floor, which, legend has it, was constructed to ease the stigma suffered by the original owner’s height-challenged inamorata. At orientation, he meets neighboring office employee Maxine (Catherine Keener) and is immediately smitten, but she is far too cool a customer for the love-struck loser. The two colleagues form a business partnership when Craig stumbles on a weird discovery. Behind a cabinet in his office is a sealed door that opens onto a cramped, sticky tunnel. Exploring this, he is sucked into the head of John Malkovich, from where he views the world through the actor’s eyes for precisely 15 minutes before being spat out into a ditch off the New Jersey Turnpike. Before long, Craig and Maxine are charging thrill-starved New Yorkers $200 a pop for entry into this portal to Malkovich’s brain.

But complications arise when Lotte takes the trip and is instantly hooked on “the Malkovich ride.” Inside the actor’s skin, Lotte finds a real sense of herself for the first time and begins to consider sex reassignment. Her feelings are further confused when Maxine sets up a date with Malkovich and Lotte is party to her seduction, while Maxine also responds with heightened pleasure to the awareness of a woman’s eyes desiring her through Malkovich’s. As the two women’s unorthodox sexual relationship takes wing, Craig takes matters into his own hands, entering Malkovich’s brain and using his puppeteering skills to take up permanent residence. From within, he completely redirects the now helpless actor’s career and, for a time, finds bliss with Maxine. The beauty of Kaufman’s endlessly resourceful script is not just the originality of its humor but that the ideas never let up. And despite the sheer absurdity of much of it, the story retains its own unique logic. This is due in great part to Jonze’s shrewd decision to focus on the performances and the exhilaratingly paced material, letting the actors and script shine rather than investing heavily in visuals.

The director has declined to go the expected route for a musicvid savant of concocting elaborate, slick visuals or heightened atmosphere, instead opting for functional simplicity that, if anything, is often a little drab and underlit. But d.p. Lance Acord — who, like most of the principal technical team, comes from musicvideos and has collaborated frequently with Jonze in the past — perfectly mirrors the material’s tone with his jumpy, manic camerawork, as does Eric Zumbrunnen’s tight editing. Working with actors in fully developed roles for the first time, Jonze draws rich, enjoyable performances from the entire cast. Each character goes through his share of bumps and changes, and the four leads fully embrace the material’s wild spirit. While it takes time to recover from the shock of seeing Diaz so dismally plain, with shapeless outfits and a bad perm, the actress again demonstrates her verve and razor-sharp comic skills as she falls for Maxine, is thwarted by her husband and responds with fierce determination to secure happiness at any price. In the showier role of smart-mouthed, cynical Maxine, Keener she brings plenty of sexy attitude, poise and bite.

And the actress ultimately uncovers some softer angles when true love finally finds Maxine. Craig is the kind of edgy, idiosyncratic role Cusack — also dressed-down and with scruffy beard and hair — does best. His nervous energy propels the puppeteer from being an almost Kafkaesque figure in dementia-land to a manipulator and amoral exploiter of the situation to a pitiable, quietly tragic soul in the audaciously twisted, melancholy final act, which is both disturbing and poignant. Malkovich reveals himself to be a terrific sport, taking shots at his own career (almost no one can remember a movie he was in except “that one about the jewel thief”), his screen persona, even his looks and body and, more fancifully, his murky past when Lotte chases Maxine through the various levels of his subconscious. It’s hard to imagine many established actors game enough to allow themselves to be presented in this often questionable way, and equally hard to imagine another name that would fit the conceit so snugly. Malkovich’s aloof, slightly stoned and at times inhuman demeanor makes him elastic enough to be inhabited and gradually taken over.

His puppet dance of despair, with Craig pulling the strings from inside, is a classic. Mary Kay Place has some extremely funny scenes as the office receptionist, who chronically mishears everything said to her, as does Orson Bean, as the company’s enigmatic, 105-year-old, sex-obsessed president. Sean Penn and Brad Pitt, among others, pop up in brief, amusing cameos, while Charlie Sheen gets some major laughs, especially when advising the incensed Malkovich not to let go of “the hot, lesbian witch thing.” Being John Malkovich

Question: A 1999 film was entitled "Being John " who?
Answer: Malkovich