His debut ‘Being John Malkovich’ is a hilarious, odd love story involving mind tunnels, intelligent monkey’s
and orange urine. Totally unpredictable black humour, unbelievably original.
Craig Schwartz, an out-of-work puppeteer, realises the days of the “puppet master” are long gone.
Sick of his scraggy wife, played majestically by the usually “stunning” Cameron Diaz, Schwartz wants more action and adventure in his life. Considering she is obsessed with animals and owns an array of dogs, cats and even an parakeet who tells Schwartz to shut up when he's talking. So our depressed hero goes for an interview as a file clerk at the Mertin-Flemmer building.
He begins work on the 7 1/2th floor of his office building - a floor which is crammed between the 7th and 8th.
He is looking through someone else’s eyes. What is going on?
He looks in the mirror and the face looking back at him is actor John Malkovich.
He is experiencing everything John Malkovich is experiencing - eating toast, drinking juice - all from John Malkovich's point of view. Fifteen minutes later, he finds himself forcibly ejected from Malkovich's head, falling through the sky and landing in a ditch next to the New Jersey Turnpike.
Cusack is amazed by his discovery, and troubled by the metaphysical implications. Other characters have different takes. Cusack's temptress co-worker, the sultry Catherine Keener, wants to market trips into Malkovich's head like an amusement park ride - only $200 a time. Cusack's wife finds that one trip makes her question her gender and, like some drug, becomes addicted, she wants to keep going into Malkovich. Cusack's old and rather mental boss thinks it's the key to immortality and has secret plans for a rendezvous.
All the time not one of the main characters give a damn about what John Malkovich thinks of all these strangers parading through his head, 15 minutes at a time. He cannot live like that. He must stop all these “fixed” individuals trampling inside his head.
The man I refer to as “King”, John Cusack, is totally mind blowling, literally, with his portrail of the down on his luck street bum hero. He is superb but Diaz must also get a mention for this movie shows she can act. The star of the film is, of course, the man himself Malkovich. It is the best self-parody film I have ever seen. Malkovich at his moody pants sniffing best.
You really need to experience it for yourself, and not let too many people tell you about it.
The script, and story itself, couldn't be better. So bizzare, sinister, odd and utterly original.
If you like movies stamped out - clear and simple, this is not for you. No, you watch “Cruel Intentions 2”
But - If you like something different, something hilarious and amazing, this is it.
Spike Jonze is clearly insane but isn’t it fun to be a bit mad. It obviously worked for him. The direction is fantastic, with some notable gorilla style filmmaking. Surely this will spark a comeback for puppeteers, who have been hungry for work since Gerry Anderson packed the Thunderbirds up in a box and threw it into the Thames.
Just one question - if there's a 7 1/2th floor, what exactly do floors 7 and 8 look like? Don't they have to be half floors too? Or are all the floors a little shorter to accommodate the 7 1/2th floor?