Being John Malkovich

• Instead, the pacing is solid, and the story grows ever more tangled and intriguing, reaching the pinnacle of delirium (and fascination) in the scene where Malkovich finds himself inside his own mind at a restaurant, surrounded only by... Malkoviches. It is all worlds away from classic American comedy, even if the surreal premise itself asks us not to scrutinize its many (psycho)logical loopholes too closely.

• In the end, Craig finally grows up and has no more use for this floor. This is a movie you can reflect upon endlessly once you start thinking about it. But if you spend all your time pondering such trivialities, you'll end up becoming a permanent resident of that moratorium floor yourself; a Malkovich portal might just open up in the wall behind your closet. And yet, it still makes you think. That is how utterly captivating this cult film is.

• With a rather crazy beginning (and what follows is no less insane), I was worried the plot might cross the line into mere bizarre nonsense without a plausible story underneath. But what unfolds is the creation of a universe so surreal and unique, exposing situations and feelings so present in our minds, that it never stops surprising us every minute, leaving no time to even wonder 'what could possibly happen next?'.

• That is the core of Being John Malkovich, a film that both celebrates and critiques the cinematic experience. A film about longings and identity. A masterpiece about the curiosity of cinema, the influence of the author, the nature of the spectator, and the value of actors. About John Malkovich.

• In the vein of The Big Lebowski (though just a notch below), Being John Malkovich builds a world with its own internal consistency, and the viewer feels the humor welling up from within rather than just watching it come off the screen as something external. It's a rare enough sensation to be treasured, and probably a form of intellectual, borderline snobbish humor, but exquisitely crafted!

1 / 5