oOoBarracuda I wanted to be a philosophy major in college, but I also wanted to be gainfully employed so I abandoned that wish. Philosophy has remained a way of which I spend my time. A film, philosophical in its premise, will always be one that I gravitate towards. Being John Malkovich, the 1999 film by Spike Jonze is a film purely philosophical in its plot and approach. The film stars John Cusack as a man who makes a living as a puppeteer, desperate to control an aspect of his otherwise meaningless existence. When he finds a portal which allows people to enter into the head of actor John Malkovich, he attempts to make a profit with his business affiliate played by Catherine Keener. When both his business affiliate and wife played by Cameron Diaz fall in love with the actor, he has lost even more control of his life and may go to extreme measures to gain control.Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is a struggling puppeteer who builds his own puppets and is desperate to make a living doing the work he is impassioned with, lives a life that is filled with mundane activities. When his wife and animal lover Lottie, who herself owns a pet store, encourages him to finally get a job, Craig finds himself at a company called LesterCorp, located on the seventh and a half floor with ceilings so low one can't fully extend their body to an upright position to work as a file clerk. Something seems off about this building and its personnel immediately, before Craig can even learn the half of it (I'm punny). While attempting to settle into his new work environment one day, Craig stumbles upon a small door in his office that leads him into the head of actor John Malkovich. Craig and his co-worker Maxine Lund (Catherine Keener) decide to sell 15-minute increments of time in John Malkovich's head as an experience to the public. At first, the revelation makes Craig feel as though he has some control and purpose over his life and the lives of others. Soon, however, his co-worker and crush Maxine begins to fall in love with the actor, then, Craig's wife falls in love with him as well after her 15-minute ride in the mind of John Malkovich. His newfound control and purpose begin to spiral out of control leaving Craig desperate to find a way to gain it back, despite what that means to anyone involved.The idea of self is heavily explored throughout Being John Malkovich. Malkovich's "self" is intruded upon and under constant threat, which is a cardinal worry of many social philosophers. What does free will enter and how can one maintain their grasp on their free will when it is constantly under siege from so many intruders around us. Human isolation is also clearly illustrated throughout Being John Malkovich. Each of Craig's puppets is separated by a wall or some other object, and each of the people we meet in Craig's life doesn't spend too much time surrounded by others. Even the communal experience of gaining entry to John Malkovich's head further isolates people once their time as him ends. Each person that comes out of John Malkovich leaves appreciating his life more and their life less further calling to question issues of self. Perhaps the most overarching issue examined in Jonze's film is the question of the existence of a soul. What is beyond life and self and breaches the metaphysics, is anything. Each person seems more apt to explore the being of John Malkovich than actually explore their own identities. Perhaps there is nothing to the idea of soul to the filmmaker; either way, the existence of soul, the examination of self, and human isolation are extreme areas of interest to the plot and background of Being John Malkovich.

Peter Welch This movie has a truly bizarre premise. Let's just get that out of the way off the bat. Before I started watching, I was already excited to see how such a bizarre idea could function on screen. But, a lot of movies don't live up to their premise, and this is one of them.It isn't just the premise that is bizarre: the characters are even more wacky. In a strange and unfamiliar world, I expect a movie to have a strong protagonist with whom I can identify. This movie had no such thing. The protagonist is so strange and illogical that the viewer feels like an outsider looking in for the entirety of the film. When everyone on screen is a weirdo, I'm not too invested in their interpersonal drama."Weird" and "deep" are not one in the same. Jonze puts a cast of weird characters on screen but he gives them no depth. Catherine Keener's character is the supreme example of this: she is supposed to be confident, sexy, and complex, but she comes off as random, illogical, and weird. She doesn't act like a real person, she acts like a poorly written character in a film that's trying too hard to be artsy.Nonetheless, the movie packs some laughs. Appearances from celebrities playing themselves is always good for a smile from the audience, and this film does it in an amusing way. There are also two short mockumentaries within the film that are pretty much gold.If you are drawn to the premise like I was, or you like Jonze's other work, you're probably going to watch this movie. I still can't recommend it.

FilmBuff1994 Being John Malkovich is a terrific movie with a very well developed storyline and a really talented cast. There is nothing else like it, as is anything from Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze, two individual film makers who are not one bit afraid to take risks, which they did here to a significant degree. It certainly does not sound good on paper, two co-workers discover a portal to the mind of John Malkovich in their office building, but everything in it really works, the story will warp your mind in a way that you will enjoy. The only problem I had was that they glossed over Dr. Lester, who is beautifully portrayed by Orson Bean, his story, a very complicated one, could have been developed much more. The film has a surprisingly sweet and inspiring message, to be true to yourself, the person you want to be, to pursue your dreams and not to hold back on what you would like to achieve, you may find it strange how a story such as that could have such a powerful methapor to it, you will have to see for yourself. The cast is outstanding and are well able to handle the film's weirdness, John Cusack and Cameron Diaz deliver one of the best performances of their careers as two damaged soles, with an obsession with Catherine Keener, a mean, manipulative, deceiving woman you can not help but love. However, Malkovich is without a doubt the star of the show, portraying a very exaggerated version of himself, I would assume, being forced to change personalities and identities throughout for certain reasons, doing it all to full effect. Weird, whimsical and somewhat inspiring, Being John Malkovich is a movie that will leave you feeling a range of different emotions, all which you will enjoy, a must watch comedy drama. When a puppeteer is forced to take a job in an office building, he soon discovers a portal that takes him in to the mind of actor John Malkovich. Best Performance: John Malkovich

Brendan Michaels A film like this has some great ideas in its head. What if you could go inside the head of one of the most underrated actors of all time, John Malkovich? That's a question that you've probably never thought of but wish you did after seeing one of the best films of the 20th century, Being John Malkovich. Easily a movie that could only be written by the one and only genius madman himself Charlie Kaufman and directed by the other genius madman Spike Jonze. The genius of this film is the subtext surrounding itself. Being John Malkovich is a film about identity, longing, the complexities of the mind and what we really want out of life.The film starts with Craig Schwartz, played by John Cusack, using a marionette puppet destroying his property around him. The puppet looks strikingly like Schwartz and in that one scene we see the complexities and possessiveness of Cusack's character in just one scene. Being John Malkovich is about said puppeteer, Craig Schwartz, who gets work at office 7 ½ discovers a doorway in his office that when entering inside of it allows you to be in the mind of John Malkovich. But as the film progresses Schwartz is finding out more and more about the people he loves as he delves in more into the psyche of Malkovich. The wonderfully original script by Charlie Kaufman who has written some of my favorite movies, Adaptation, Anomalisa, and my personal favorite of his Synecdoche, New York. It's funny how I have just found the time to watch what has now just become, in the matter of a few hours, one of my favorite films of all time. It's mix of drama and comedy makes this a standout of any film that will ever exist. Being John Malkovich is a triumph to the world in saying that crazy can make the world a better more brighter place for film.Spike Jonze has impressed me ever since I saw his marvelous romance film, Her, and by seeing his directorial debut it shows me that Jonze has never lost that spark of creativity or brilliance that was shown to the world in 1999. It's shocking to realize that this was his first feature film and has topped many people's favorite films of all time. I can see a bit of what Kaufman and Jonze would bring to the world in the next decade. In a way Jonze and Kaufman is making us the audience Craig Schwartz. By letting us infer on what they want to show us and what the characters in their movie are trying to express but can't with the possessiveness of Schwartz. It's truly fantastic that a movie can let us feel what we want to feel rather than how we feel. I haven't gotten into this as much but Being John Malkovich is one of the funniest dark comedies I have ever seen in my life. It has a great mesh of it and isn't always hilariously goofy or always grimly dark but a good mixture of the two that will never be replicated. Much like the performances in this that will never be replicated.This movie is filled with career bests for everyone in the cast. John Cusack, Catherine Keener, Cameron Diaz, and the one and only John Malkovich give mind boggling prowess to their roles. As mentioned previously Cusack can easily bring a complexity to a character that you should hate but you don't because of his empatheticness and possessiveness. He bends the ways of how the audience sees him to try to paint a false idol of what he wants to be but isn't. Sadly he explores the part in us humans that we can never escape from, not getting what we think we deserve. Schwartz goes crazy mad when he spills his heart and guts for a woman that couldn't care less about him. Diaz has the best performance of her career in this film. She brings the side of humanity of trying to find out who we are and are we actually being honest to ourselves or are we just trying to change ourselves so that we can be the best for other and not what's best for us. But the standout of this is the titular actor/character himself, John Malkovich. Malkovich brings the side of humanity that is quite fascinating to me. Are our thoughts actually our thought? Are we thinking what we want to think or is an outside source just making us think the things they want us to think. I'm honestly surprised that I have written this much about only 3 characters in this film. But isn't that what shows the beauty of this film? That I can dissect it and think about it at this level of depth and still be mesmerized by it and want to go back and rewatch it as soon as possible! I think so.Being John Malkovich is the greatest gift the 1990s ever left on us and shows that we don't need to follow the same norms that the Hollywood industry has put on us as audience members and we can see actual bright ideas that don't follow the normalcy of what we put up with throughout the year. A grandeur of the surreal and a favorite of mine that I want to rewatch over and over and over. Being John Malkovich is that times a thousand.