Being John Malkovich (UK)

8 / 10
5 votes cast
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Ever wanted to be someone else? Now you can
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 108 mins
Retail Price: £19.99
Release Date:

Synopsis:
Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is a struggling street puppeteer. In order to make some money, Craig takes a job as a filing clerk. One day he accidentally discovers a door... a portal into the brain of John Malkovich (strangely enough played by John Malkovich)! For 15 minutes he experiences the ultimate head trip - He is being John Malkovich.

Then he`s dumped onto the New Jersey turnpike! With his beautiful office mate Maxine (Catherine Keener) and his pet-obessed wife (Cameron Diaz), they hatch a plan to let others into John`s brain for just $200 a trip. See what all the critics are talking about

Special Features:
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Spoof documentary: `American Arts & Culture Presents: John Horatio Malkovich`
Dance of Despair and Disillusionment
Spike Jonze Interview
`7 and a half Floor Orientation`
4 TV Spots
Spike Photo Album
Theatrical Trailer
Cast & Filmmakers Notes

Video Tracks:
Widescreen Anamorphic 1.85:1

Audio Tracks:
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1 French
Dolby Digital 5.1 German

Subtitle Tracks:
French
English
German
Dutch

Directed By:
Spike Jonze

Written By:

Starring:
Mary Kay Place
Madison Lanc
Eric Weinstein
Ned Bellamy
Cameron Diaz
John Cusack

Casting By:
Kim Davis
Justine Baddeley

Soundtrack By:
Carter Burwell

Music From:
Béla Bartók

Director of Photography:
Lance Acord

Editor:
Eric Zumbrunnen

Costume Designer:
Casey Storm

Production Designer:
K.K. Barrett

Producer:
Michael Stipe
Sandy Stern
Vincent Landay
Steve Golin

Executive Producer:
Michael Kuhn
Charlie Kaufman

Distributor:
Universal Pictures

Your Opinions and Comments

8 / 10
Good film. Twisted plot. Novel ideas. Boring in bits. Generally clever. All in all totally wierd. Nice features on disc, good menus. Nuff said.
posted by Blazingmonga on 13/10/2000 04:06
5 / 10
A bit of a mess, though it has it`s moments though
posted by Richard73 on 16/10/2000 23:14
7 / 10
Only watched this film because I'm a huge fan of John Cusack, but have to say found this film just a little confusing, and more than a little weird. Disc wise this is pretty good - video and audio are (as you would expect) very good, and there is a nice selection of extras (although I think there should have been a bit more!).

Overall, amusing in parts, weird for the rest of the film, with some excellent performances all round. One that you really have to watch yourself in order to make your mind up on!
posted by Rich Davies on 19/11/2002 02:25
8 / 10
MOVIE
Got hold of this eventually because it was a bit cheaper. I`m glad I did. For a Hollywood film, it`s incredibly different although you can kind of see why it was greenlit because of the fact they got the stars for it. You often wonder what would have happened if Malkovich hadn`t agreed to be in it though! Speaking of Malkovich, he does a wonderful job in the movie, even though he plays himself for most of it. The movie is just full of inventiveness, from the 7 and a half floor onwards. A truly off the wall movie, and one that I enjoyed very much. It has it all, from the comedy timing, the scenes with Orson Bean are just incredible, to a very good plot and a wonderful cast, most of whom are unrecognisable in their parts. And look out for the Brad Pitt cameo.

VIDEO
Very good. Another movie with lots of muted colours, but they are all brought out well in the transfer, no complaints from it, another good transfer from Columbia Tristar

AUDIO
Again, no complaints. The movie is mostly dialogue driven, but it is all very clear and the surrounds are put to use on occasions, in the tunnel is one instance.

EXTRAS
This is where the disc is a bit of a letdown in my opinion. It has the wonderful trailers and TV Spots that accompanied the film, but the rest is a bit useless. Two of the features actually appear in the movie, and are only here for convenience if you wish to see them. The in-car interview is pretty uninformative and a one watch really. No commentary, no making of and ust some text features to round off the disc. The accompanying booklet is quite good though
posted by cartoonjonah on 5/6/2003 15:52