Okay, so let’s make this quick and simple, shall we? I can easily recognize that a movie like Being John Malkovich doesn’t exactly have universal appeal, but rather it’s going to strike a cord with a very niche audience. Sometimes you have a movie that’s just so delightfully weird, and that’s exactly what Being John Malkovich is. However, I’m sure we’ve all seen a movie or two that we found to be very strange, so if you hate movies like this, it’s probably best for you to just stay away from this one. However, if odd movies appeal to you, then let’s try to find out if this one is right for you.

Being John Malkovich is the kind of movie where your enjoyment level of the movie is pretty much going to ride on whether or not the concept of it sounds interesting to you, so let’s get right into it. John Cusack plays Craig Schwartz, a man who is passionate about puppeteering, but is struggling with trying to make it work as a profession. He’s nudged towards getting a daytime job by his wife Lotte, who he tends to feel very indifferent towards. However, Craig gets a job, and a romantic interest towards his co-worker Maxine is only the beginning of his troubles. One day, Craig accidentally stumbles upon a hidden tunnel at his workplace. He follows this tunnel and finds that it’s a portal. This portal leads you into the mind of John Malkovich, where you can view the world through his eyes…at least for 15 minutes, at which point it spits you out on a New Jersey turnpike.

In my opinion, to give away anything past that would spoil the whole fun of the movie, so I’ll leave it at that. So, this is where I put the burden on you as an audience member to ask yourself: “does a movie about being able to go into the mind of John Malkovich sound interesting to me, or is that just too weird of a concept?” If you feel like it sounds too strange, then I’m going to say that I don’t think this movie is for you. However, if this sounds as delightfully weird to you as it does to me, then you should absolutely watch this.

So, I could go on about how good the acting is, how great of a director Spike Jonze is, how clever the writing is, and things like that. But for a movie like this, I just don’t see the point in that. To me, this is an easy sell. The premise alone should tell you whether or not the movie is for you, so anything past that is just fluff to me. This is the kind of movie where there’s a lot of weird quirks that just add to its character. Craig and Lotte own a bunch of exotic pets, Craig’s workplace is located on floor 7 ½, and there’s a character who speaks perfectly fine that’s always apologizing for his speech impediment. There’s a bunch of these oddities even outside of its whacky premise, and so for anyone that’s into this sort of thing, it’s a real treat. I can definitely recognize that this movie isn’t for everyone, but it’s right up my alley so I loved it. If you’re not into this sort of movie feel free to pass it up, but for anyone else you should definitely check it out.

4.5/5