While too many movies suffer the fate of creative bankruptcy, Being John Malkovich is a refreshing study in contrast, so bracingly original that you'll want to send director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman a thank-you note for restoring your faith in the enchantment of film. Even if it ultimately serves little purpose beyond the thrill of comedic invention, this demented romance is gloriously entertaining, spilling over with ideas that tickle the brain and even touch the heart. That's to be expected in a movie that dares to ponder the existential dilemma of a forlorn puppeteer (John Cusack) who discovers a metaphysical portal into the brain of actor John Malkovich.
The puppeteer's working as a file clerk on the seventh-and-a-half floor of a Manhattan office building; this idea alone might serve as the comedic basis for an entire film, but Jonze and Kaufman are just getting started. Add a devious coworker (Catherine Keener), Cusack's dowdy wife (a barely recognizable Cameron Diaz), and a business scheme to capitalize on the thrill of being John Malkovich, and you've got a movie that just gets crazier as it plays by its own outrageous rules. Malkovich himself is the film's pièce de résistance, riffing on his own persona with obvious delight and--when he enters his own brain via the portal--appearing with multiple versions of himself in a tour-de-force use of digital trickery. Does it add up to much? Not really. But for 112 liberating minutes, Being John Malkovich is a wild place to visit. --Jeff Shannon

uuid:	F8086D9F-1A31-4758-AF80-FB66662D3ACB
upc:	0044005975727
title:	Being John Malkovich
theatricalDate:	01-01-1999
rating:	5
purchase date:	08-05-2005
publisher:	Usa Films
published:	01-05-2001
price:	$19.95
net Rating:	4
MPAA Rating:	R
minutes:	113
last lookup time:	137287488
genre:	Love Triangle John Cusack
fullTitle:	Being John Malkovich
features:	Color Closed-captioned Widescreen Dolby 1.85:1
director:	Spike Jonze
currentValue:	$5.10
created:	137287488
country:	us
aspect:	DVD
asin:	6305807086