Being John Malkovich Review
Surrealist cinema at its most inventive and edifying, this feature debut by music video maestro Spike_Jonze poses questions of existentialism and celebrity without the pretension of feeling like you're in a philosophy symposium. Armed with Charlie_Kaufman's devilishly clever and narratively sound script, the director creates a funhouse of the mind, but never strays from its originating premise, which involves the fascination and consequences of living as someone else, even for a brief period. Filled with offbeat humor and surprisingly free of empty flash (unusual for a director whose only previous experience is in music video), Being John Malkovich finds a genre niche that seems relatively untapped, similar to a film like David_Lynch's Blue_Velvet, which created a world all its own even in the midst of familiar surroundings. A mid-level success upon release, the film was honored on several critics' Ten Best lists of 1999, and garnered first-time Oscar nominations for Jonze, Kaufman, and co-star Catherine_Keener, who is ruthlessly funny as the object of John_Cusack's affections. Jason Clark, Rovi
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