♥♥♥♥♥♥
+ Best Movie of the Year
+ Best American Movie of the Year + Best Actress' Breakthrough of the Year: Catherine Keener + Best Dramedy of the Year + Best Fantasy Comedy of the Year + Most Undeserved Flop of the Year
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| How would you like to be a world-renowned actor? That is the possibility that presents itself in Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich |
QUICK REVIEW:
Being John Malkovich is about a very nerdy couple: The man works at the 7½th floor of a building as an archive clerk, even though he really is a puppeteer. Here he locates a portal into the brain of John Malkovich. This leads to a whole bunch of things.
Catherine Keener and John Cusack meet awkwardly at their office on the 7½th floor
Charlie Kaufman's (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)) writing style blends Kafkaesque absurdism and American virtues such as neurotic, full and original characters and the concept of celebrity in his best work so far, Being John Malkovich, the first feature script of his to be made into a film; (he had worked on a few TV series before that.)
The many eccentric ideas garbled coherently together in Malkovich is the film's strongest triumph.
With Spike Jonze as director, - who had previously worked on MTV and music videos, - the dark humor, drama and development of the story is caught excellently and told with visually creative exuberance to match the soaring script.
Starring in the film, Catherine Keener (The 40 Year-Old Virgin (2005)), Cameron Diaz (There's Something About Mary (1998)), John Cusack (High Fidelity (2000)) and John Malkovich (In the Line of Fire (1993)) himself are just wonderful.
Malkovich was interested in producing the film long before accepting to play himself in it, arguing for another star in the part (and thus also a change of title.) He ended up taking the risky part, and everything worked out just splendidly in this case.
Especially the idea of desire as a living thing in itself was very interesting to me, while watching the film, but watch it for yourself and you'll catch things from it that the person/s next to you might not even think about. It is a rich experience.
Wonderful Catherine Keener plays her part with all her charm, and was Oscar-nominated for it
Kaufman is co-directing his second film at the moment, based on his own script; it is an animation film entitled Anomalisa.
Jonze is reaping awards these months for his latest, the hyped Joaquin Phoenix-starring robo-romance, Her (2013).
Another poster for one of the best, last films of the former millennium, Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich
Related reviews:
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Top 10: Best fantasy movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Watch the trailer here
Budget: 13 mil. $
Box office: 32.3 mil. $
= Minor flop
What do you think of Being John Malkovich?
Which celebrity would you like to be, and how do you think it would pan out?
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