Being John Malkovich (Widescreen Special Edition)

Four fantastic performances are given by John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener and Malkovich himself, and they are guided by Spike Jonze' direction and Mr. Kaufman's screenplay.

Cusack is a gifted, tortured, starving artist, and not just any artist, but a puppeteer - working with marionettes. The film opens with a marionette performance so poignant it seems neary human - the performance reminds me of the opening of "White Nights" in which Baryshnikov dances "Le Jeune Homme Et La Mort". In White Nights it takes a moment before you recognize that you are watching a performance of a ballet, and in this film the marionette is so life-like it doesn't require much suspension of disbelief to think the puppet alive. In another similarity between the two films later on a human-sized marionette is made to "dance" the lead role in "Swan Lake" surrounded by human ballerinas. The rest of this film is SO startlingly original that it's easy to overlook the fact that the movie has some REALLY skilled puppeteering in it.

But I digress. Puppeteering doesn't pay Cusack well, so there are money arguments between John and wife Cameron Diaz, who looks like a cross between a street person and a washer-woman here. She works in a pet store and keeps a collection of animals including a dog, ferret, bird and chimpanzee - all apparently with some form of veterinary post-traumatic stress disorder. Diaz' Lotte is the kind of person who forms close emotional ties with animals but has more difficulty being intimate with other humans.

Desperate for a paying job, Cusack thinks his nimble puppeteering fingers make him ideal for a company that specializes in filing, so he gets a job in an old New York building on the 7 1/2th floor - the kind of quirky little thing added in just for "flavor" in this film.

At his new job Cusack discovers Maxine - an attractive but sarcastic New York woman who has had it with most men, and Cusack's Craig Schwartz certainly seems like most men to her.

Craig also discovers something he wasn't expecting behind a filing cabinet: a portal that leads to 15 minutes inside the head of John Malkovich before dumping you on the side of a New Jersey highway.

If it seems like I've given away the whole story - I haven't. These are all plot setups that lead to the development of a narrative that doesn't just have a "twist". THIS story "twists" every five minutes.

On my second viewing of the movie my greatest regard is for John Malkovich himself, who not only allows himself to be spoofed, but participates in the spoofing with great gusto. On the first trip "into Malkovich" we track him as he's getting ready to go out. He goes down to the street where a cab is hailed for him. The driver looks back and instantly recognizes him.

"Hey.... you're that actor, aren't you?"
"Yes", Malkovich replies.
"I loved you in that movie where you played the jewel thief".
"I never played a jewel thief". (Although a few years later John Malkovich actually does play a jewel thief in Johnny English.)

A few other times other characters bring up his performance in the jewel thief movie - a great running gag demonstrating how easy human nature makes it to spread urban legends and other incorrect information.

John Malkovich has been in a large number of my very favorite films: The Killing Fields, Dangerous Liaisons, Places in the Heart, Shadow of the Vampire, In the Line of Fire and Of Mice and Men. (Fans of "Sex and the City" will enjoy the moment when Willie Garson walks by Malkovich in a restaurant and compliments him on his performance in the movie where he played "that retard".) Now one of my favorite John Malkovich movies is the one that bears his name.

I can't imagine John Malkovich's face when he was approached with this screenplay. I can't believe anyone in his right mind wouldn't run the other way when presented with even the most basic premise for this film. But then again, at least in the movie, Malkovich is anything but in his right mind. Heck, for most of the film, he isn't even IN his mind. Creepy, huh? Creepy doesn't even begin to cover it. But I highly recommend it. Just be warned not to drive or operate heavy machinery after seeing it.

This movie is best watched late at night. Most of the scenes are in fact shot at nighttime, adding positively to the surreal effect of the story. Cusack, Diaz, and Malkovich turn in wonderful performances. Catherine Keener is suitably hateable as the selfish Maxine.

This movie encourages you to look deep beneath the surface of a person. It is also good for some serious out-loud laughs.