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Actors: John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, John Malkovich
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Being John Malkovich |
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Craig is a puppeteer, who decides to get a real job. He then gets a job as a filer in a building with a floor that's really low. One day, a file slips behind the cabinet. He moves it, only to find a little door. He entered it and sees things through John Malkovich's head. He then lands in a turnpike. He tells this to his love interest, Maxine and they start a business where for $100, people can go into the portal. Things then go terribly wrong, though, when Craig overdoes the door's power, and becomes Malkovich, himself. This film is very well made, and entertaining. Chatherine Keener steals the show as Maxine, with Cameron Diaz also doing very well. Although the ending is a bit off, this film is truly amazing.
--Estefan Ellison, Resident Scholar
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A unsuccessfulm puppeteer caaled Greg seeks stable work and ends up as a filer in a firm which is located in the 7½th. floor of an office skyscraper; the ½ floor meaning the roof is somewhere at 120 cm, so the office wrokers have to walk hunchback-style. One day Greg accidently drops a file of paper behind a cupboard. After moving the cupboard he notices a strange door in the wall. When he steps in, it appears it is a sort of a tunnel in to the head of actor John Malkovich. Once you crawl in, you get to be Malkovich for 15 minutes.
--Tero Hakulinen, Resident Scholar
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Out of work Puppeteer Craig Schwartz (Cuzak) decides to earn some money as a file clerk when he discovers a small door in his office. This door is a portal into John Malkovitch's head! For about 15 minutes you see what he sees, feel what he feels, before being dumped somewhere on the New Jersey Turnpike. With his sexy office mate Maxine (Keener) they sell this experience at $200 a pop. Also, Craig is falling for Maxine, as is his wife Lottie (Diaz). Maxine tracked down Malkovitch and is attracted when she knows Lottie is in his head. Craig starts to get jelous and Malkovitch has a very disturbing feeling. Wierd and Funny
--Adam D. Bram, Resident Scholar
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Puppeteer Craig Schwartz (Cusack) is not making it, so he applies for a day job on the seven-and-a-half(th?) floor of a New York skyscraper. There, he meets a slim, fast woman named Maxine (Keener) who appeals to him much more than his drab, animal-loving wife Lotte (an all-but-unrecognizable Diaz). He also discovers a "portal" in his office which allows a person to enter the head of John Malkovich for 15 minutes before being dumped in a ditch off the New Jersey Turnpike. Craig and Maxine decide to charge people $200 a head (so to speak) for the experience, and become fascinated by it themselves, with each other and Lotte (sort of), and with Malkovich, who of course plays himself (largely). This crazy, unique comedy was one of the best films of 1999, with a wonderful supporting cast including Mary Kay Place and Orson Bean, and playing themselves (kind of): Charlie Sheen, Philip Glass, Dustin Hoffman, Michelle Pfeiffer, Brad Pitt, Winona Ryder, and Gary Sinise. Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman was nominated for an Oscar (as were Keener and first-time feature director Spike Jonze), and his dialogue crackles. (Sample exchange: "Can I buy you a drink, Maxine?" "Are you married?" "Yes, but enough about me.") Where else would you hear someone say, "Meet you in Malkovich in one hour"? Am I the only person who was delighted to hear the allegro from Bartok's "Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta" on a movie soundtrack?
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Being John Malkovich |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- present (2000-2010)
Fantasy/Magic?
Yes
Fantasy element:
- Getting wishes granted
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- artist
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric:
Yes
- eccentric
- obsessed
- emotionally unstable
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard wavey
Body type
- (man) average
Events of movie makes character more...
- happy
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- soggy whimpering jelly muffin
- sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- blonde
Hair style
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn curly
Body type
- (woman) very skinny
How much in movie?
- 60%
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- none
Age:
- long-lived adults
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- lesbians!
Any profanity?
- A lot of foul language
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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