Being John Malkovich

'Being John Malkovich' sure is quite something! Despite not knowing the type of movie that it is, I'm always wanted to get this one watched purely because of the title. Now I've seen it, I'm pleased I've done so. It's strange on the surface, though by the end it's... almost normal? Based on the opening and the genre it's listed under on Wikipedia, I was expecting more of an artsy sorta thing. Pleasantly, it isn't that. Of course it has deeper meaning and I'm not saying I got 100% of it, though in the end it's relatively simple. But impressive and original, no doubt. I love that John Malkovich agreed to do this, I now read that he was apparently "half intrigued and half horrified" when he first read the script - I can see why! John Cusack, Cameron Diaz (took me a while to recognise her) and Catherine Keener are all great behind (inside?) JM. My only criticism is that it didn't keep the humour that it shows when Craig first meets Lester, the 'Airplane!'-esque nature of it fitted so well. Sure, there is plenty of humour in there, but the deadpan delivery of Lester (and Floris, of course) is the most amusing.

“Craig” (John Cusack) is married to “Lotte” (Cameron Diaz) but it’s more of a convenient arrangement as they both struggle to make ends meet. He is a professional puppeteer so whilst that allows him to dwell in world of creative fantasy, it doesn’t put food on the table. To supplement his income he takes a job working in a New York office building that could have come straight out of Lewis Carroll. Everyone has to stoop, the elevators are barely big enough to accommodate an human being and the whole place has a distinctly curious feel to it. He takes a bit of a shine to his colleague “Maxine” (Catherine Keener) but she’s pretty disinterested in having a fling with a scruffy looking married man, so poor old “Craig” is fairly despondent when he discovers a small door hidden behind one of the filing cabinets. Intrigued, he crawls down what looks like a rabbit-hole only to find himself looking out of a pair of eyes that just happen to be in the head of legendary Hollywood star John Malkovich. After fifteen minutes he is turfed out of his new home onto the verge of the nearby highway. Of course “Maxine” initially thinks he’s bonkers when he tells her - and then reckons it could make for quite a lucrative tourist attraction. The equally sceptical “Lotte” is game for a trip by herself and that is just the start of multiple escapades inside the head of the unwitting actor that do actually appear to be able to influence his behaviour - and not necessarily for the better! It takes a while for us to get to the sharp end, but once the scene is set the writing and the acting combine really well to take us on some adventures into the absurd and the incomprehensible. Imagine those imaginary pesky devils on your shoulders now inhabiting your head. Your actions are your own but you don’t own them. You witness yourself changing before your very eyes but can’t explain. Add to that plenty of mischief, a rather unsavoury prospect with an omelette and as we might have expected, the domestic elements go completely off the New Jersey turnpike too as “Lotte” and “Maxine” realise that they can use their new host for an altogether unexpected side-benefit. The comedy is often the sort that makes you squirm with a combination of nervous anticipation and more predictable slapstick. It’s a tight cast with one effortlessly bouncing off the other and with the enjoyably seedy contribution of Orson Bean as the sex-obsessed “Lester” this builds to an denouement that is as incomplete as it is off-the-wall. It doesn’t always work all of the time, but it’s innovative and rattles along entertainingly and thoughtfully for almost two hours of very bumpy self-discovery.