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Being John Malkovich

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Being John Malkovich

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• Comedy
• Fantasy

• 1999
• Spike Jonze
• 108 mins
• 15

Summary

Fantasy comedy starring John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener and John Malkovich. When unfortunate street puppeteer Craig Schwartz starts a job at a Manhattan firm he discovers a small door hidden behind a filing cabinet and a dark tunnel leading into the head of movie star John Malkovich.

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IMDB

Review

A star rating of 5 out of 5.

Alan Jones

This crazy, surreal comedy from director Spike Jonze consistently dazzles while never losing its grip on unreality. It's a daringly original metaphysical fantasy that still finds time to ponder the human status quo, sexual gender and identity, as down-on-his-luck street puppeteer John Cusack takes a job at a strange Manhattan firm where a small door hidden behind a filing cabinet reveals a dark tunnel leading into the head of movie star John Malkovich. When he tells co-worker Catherine Keener about his new-found celebrity joy ride, they form a business partnership that offers jaded New Yorkers the chance to be the actor for 15 minutes at $200 a time. Super-smart, hip and darkly subversive (the sequence where Malkovich enters his own brain portal and finds a world completely populated by images of himself is a classic), Jonze's Kafkaesque mind trip is so far-out in conservative Hollywood terms, it's a real shock to the system. The fact that it manages to carry its open-mouthed audience through every awesomely enigmatic turn is its greatest accomplishment.

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7.7/10

How to watch

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Streaming

• Prime Video
• NOW
• Sky Store

Credits

Cast

rolenameCraig SchwartzJohn CusackMaxineCatherine KeenerLotte SchwartzCameron DiazJohn Horatio MalkovichJohn MalkovichDr LesterOrson BeanFlorisMary Kay PlaceFirst JM Inc CustomerW Earl BrownLarry the agentCarlos JacottCharlieCharlie SheenBrad PittBrad PittSean PennSean Penn

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Crew

rolenameDirectorSpike Jonze

Details

Theatrical distributor

UIP

Released on

2000-03-17

Languages

English

Guidance

Contains swearing and sex scenes.

Available on

video, DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Colour

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