Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Being John Malkovich

Just going to copy and paste the synopsis from RottenTomatoes because they summed it up more neatly than I could:
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Puppeteer Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is having money problems, so he takes a temporary job as a file clerk on the seventh-and-a-half floor of a large office building. One day, while rummaging behind a cabinet, he finds a small door that leads to the center of the mind of actor John Malkovich (played by, you guessed it, John Malkovich). Craig discovers that entering the portal allows him to become John Malkovich for a brief spell, and in time he and his beautiful but aloof co-worker Maxine (Catherine Keener) get the bright idea to charge admission for the privilege of spending 15 minutes inside the head of a well-known actor. Malkovich realizes that something strange is happening to him, but can do little to stop it, as strangers take over his mind for a quarter-hour at a time. Craig's wife, Lotte (Cameron Diaz), eventually takes a trip into Malkovich's psyche, and she soon finds herself in love with Maxine, with whom Malkovich has an affair; meanwhile, Maxine in time becomes infatuated with both Craig and Lotte, but only when they're inside Malkovich.
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Okay.  So I had actually never seen this movie until a month or so ago.  I had heard of it many times.  Even though it oh, you know, has his name in the title,  I didn't realize it really is a movie centered around him - sort of. 

I LOVE this movie.  I have never seen a premise like it before,  it is super clever and original.  There aren't many films that are completely original.  It has so many humorous moments.  A favorite scene of mine is where Malkovich goes through his own portal and arrives in a world full of...him, and the only thing any of them ever says is "Malkovich".  Another funny one is the faux documentary about John 'Horatio' Malkovich and his new career in puppeteering. 

It's a great film all around, what else can really be said about it? 

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