Being John Malkovich

100%

This one is about carpe diem and, when not having done so, vainly wanting to be someone else instead. It is also about trying to look at life through others eyes and then eventually trying to control them. That this can never work is the source of the plotting and character development here.

There are also issues of the lonely desire to discover what it is like to be the other sex. And also about the lust for fear filled control of others as a substitute for their not wanting to be in your company volitionally, rather than acceptance of others or even tolerance. Ultimately, fear of death and a wish for immortality pervades the entire drama.

A gateway into John Malkovich's mind is discovered in an office block and people are charged US$200 for spending 15 minutes inside it. Needless to say, when John Malkovich discovers all this, there is hell to pay.

All of the performances here are excellent, especially Catherine KEENER as a polymorphous perverse who really enjoys the sexual possibilities of the discovery of a way into John Malkovich's mind even while she is emotionally disturbed by their intriguing nature. Cameron DIAZ and John CUSACK convincingly play the central, unhappily married couple surrounded by a fate and circumstances they lack the will to make work for them. Moreover, John MALKOVICH and Charlie SHEEN are very game actors who play their so called parts with aplomb. (MALKOVICH: Spike Jonze wants me to be in a movie called Being John Malkovich! What part does he want me to play? AGENT: The clue's in the title, John.)

The only minor flaw this film possesses is that it is too clever for its own good and so partly obscures its own themes. Yet it is well worth watching more than once since it is probably the most original, bizarre and weird (yet matter of fact) comedy ever made - albeit with shades of Alice in Wonderland.


Article copyright © 2009 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved. Frank TALKER is also the author of Sweaty Socks: A Treatise on the Inevitability of Toe Jam in Hot Weather (East Cheam Press: Groper Books, 1997) and is University of Bullshit Professor Emeritus of Madeupology.