Critic Reviews
Being John Malkovich (1999) Rank 3 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (289) reviews
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San Francisco Examiner (Wesley Morris)
San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)
San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)
Stephen Graham Jones
And, in our hero Craig Schwarz' (John Cusack) case, not just any mind, but one with a face we all know: John Malkovich (John Malkovich). Craig discovers this corridor when he hires on as file clerk for a company stationed on the mythical 7½th floor of a ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Stephen Graham Jones
Frankie Paiva
Craig Schwartz (Cusack escaping his usual cute boyishness type of role) is an out of work puppeteer whoââ¬â¢s desperately failing in his career. So he decides to take a job filing at Lestercorp, a company that is on the 7 1/2 floor of a local office ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Frankie Paiva
FOCUS Online
Being John Malkovichâ ist ein gewagter Film, der viele Themen streift, und deshalb manchmal etwas überladen wirkt. Terry Gilliam ("Monty Python") stand ganz offensichtlich Pate, doch die von Regisseur Spike Jonze mit vielen ernsten Untertönen ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at FOCUS Online
Mac VerStandig
Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is a 30-something year old puppeteer who seems to be wasting his life away, waiting to someday find a job in the marionette business. Craig's wife, Lotte (Cameron Diaz), is a pet-freak who goes so far as to take her ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Mac VerStandig
Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
This outrageous comic fantasy may not sustain its brilliance throughout all of its 112 minutes, but it keeps cooking for so much of that time that I don't have many complaints. ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
Salon.com (Andrew O'Hehir)
It's a gleeful, nitrous-oxide high. ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Salon.com (Andrew O'Hehir)
Village Voice (J. Hoberman)
The most offbeat studio comedy since ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Village Voice (J. Hoberman)
Netflix (James Rocchi)
Being John Malkovich is one head-trip of a comedy. ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Netflix (James Rocchi)
Laramie Movie Scope (Robert Roten)
Film.com (Gemma Files)
Surreal to the point of poeticism, amusing and tragic by turns. ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Film.com (Gemma Files)
eFilmCritic.com (Scott Weinberg)
Disturbingly smart and joyously weird. A true original. ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Scott Weinberg)
MovieFreak.com (Dan Peters)
A Guide to Current DVD (Aaron Beierle)
Wolfpack Productions (Sujit 'Chief' Chawla)
The Art House Squatter
Mutant Reviewers From Hell
Reviews on the Side (Steven Lekowicz)
DVD Authority.com (Matt Brighton)
CultureDose.net (John Scalzo)
MovieMaze (Thomas Brendel)
DVDLard - Region 1 DVD Review
MovieEye.com (David Litton)
GamePro.com (Gerard Choucroun)
Brilliant Observations on 1173 Films (Clayton Trapp)
I think you have to give them an "A" for creativity. Original ideas are so plentiful that you keep running into new ones while following others, and at times the film generates an incredible pounding lysergic momentum in the middle of your head. One of ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Brilliant Observations on 1173 Films (Clayton Trapp)
filmsgraded.com (Brian Koller)
Being John Malkovich is often very funny, especially in the early going. Lotte has turned their apartment into a zoo, including a parrot given several good one-liners. The portal exits unceremoniously into a ditch by the New Jersey turnpike. The training ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at filmsgraded.com (Brian Koller)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (William Arnold)
It's essentially a one-joke situation, but screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and first-time director Spike Jonze definitely make the most of it. ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Seattle Post-Intelligencer (William Arnold)
Jonathan F. Richards
Most of "Being John Malkovich" is such twisted, through-the-looking-glass originality that you should have plenty of tolerance to cushion a creative fall-away in the film's declining scenes. The premise itself is irresistible: Craig Schwartz (John ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Jonathan F. Richards
Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
This is the most impressive directorial debut since"Reservoir Dogs." Being John Malkovich is weird, all right-- the best kind of weird, the kind you haven't seen before. ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)
Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
(Jonze and Kaufman's) work is so bold, funny, and original that it's hard to believe they aren't wide-screen veterans. ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
Harvey S. Karten
The story opens on a dazzling performance of puppetry by Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) whose job offers are too few and far betweeeen, relegated to second-string status by a gimmicky puppeteer who draws the crowds to shows involving a 60-foot tall statue. ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Harvey S. Karten
Akiva Gottlieb
You know John Malkovich. He's the darkly compelling actor with awkward features who graced the screen in films such as `Dangerous Liaisons', `Of Mice And Men' and `In The Line Of Fire'. Few would deny that he is one of America's most underappreciated ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Akiva Gottlieb
Crazy for Cinema
love it when filmmakers go out on a limb to tell strange little stories because, unlike most studio films, they don't always have a happy ending and are usually populated with either physically or emotionally unattractive people. People who are slightly ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Crazy for Cinema
Palo Alto Weekly (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Reviews by John (John Haywood)
Globe and Mail (Rick Groen)
Wonderfully inventive, wickedly funny, and thoughtful enough to keep your mind on full alert, it's a square peg in the round world of genre films. ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Globe and Mail (Rick Groen)
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
There are weird movies, and there are really, really weird movies â such as "Being John Malkovich."
In all honesty, no amount of ink can do justice to â or accurately describe â the plot of this bizarre comic fantasy, which marks the ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Deseret News, Salt Lake City
DVD Verdict
I don't think many people planned on Being John Malkovich being any sort of a hit, critical or otherwise. Even if it only pulled in $23 million at the box office, critics lauded itâRoger Ebert even chose it as the best film of 1999. Anyone I know who ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at DVD Verdict
Minneapolis Star Tribune (Jeff Strickler)
It's clever, witty, dark and, most importantly, unwaveringly bizarre. ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Minneapolis Star Tribune (Jeff Strickler)
Palo Alto Online (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Detroit News (Susan Stark)
Moviola (Jorge Avila Andrade)
Cinta sumamente original que va a dejar pensando al espectador tiempo después de que éste abandone la sala de proyección ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Moviola (Jorge Avila Andrade)
filmcritic.com (Bradley Null)
Greg's Previews at Yahoo! Movies (Greg Dean Schmitz)
The DVD Bits (Vince Carrozza)
Craig Schwartz is a gifted puppeteer. However, puppeteering currently doesn't pay enough, so in need of money and at the urging of his wife, he takes a job as a filing clerk. One day on the job he accidently discovers a hidden doorway, which leads those ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at The DVD Bits (Vince Carrozza)
Scifilm (Gerry Carpenter)
Home Theater Info (Doug MacLean)
On-Line Review by Christian Leopold Shea.
This was, frankly, one movie no one here was terribly enthusiastic about seeing, except to watch co-star John Cusack. Then we saw the film trailers with "Floor 7 1/2," then we saw the film itself. Hoo boy! What was a dead year for films has come alive in ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at On-Line Review by Christian Leopold Shea.
CineScene.com ("creepie")
Christian Spotlight on the Movies
Moovees.com (Jay Tierney)
CineScene.com (Chris Dashiell)
3 Black Chicks ("The Diva")
Urban Cinefile (Andrew L. Urban)
txreviews.com (Curtis Edmonds)
Chicago NewCityNet (Ray Pride)
musicOMH (Chris Linosi)
Mutant Reviewers From Hell
NY Rock
For his first film feature, maverick music video director Spike Jonze concocts a fascinating, hilarious character study focused on the question of who pulls the strings of our fixation on celebrity. Fittingly, it's a puppeteer, Craig Schwartz (an ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at NY Rock
Jump Cut. Magazin für Film und Kritik
Film Blather (Eugene Novikov)
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Scott's Movie Reviews (Scott Mantz)
Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
allesfilm.com (Stefan Oswald)
CultureDose.net (Marty Brown)
UTK Daily Beacon (John Gratz)
Have you ever had one of those dreams where you wake up confused about its meaning, but want more than anything to close your eyes, drift back to sleep, and continue where you left off? Then go see Being John Malkovich.
Being John Malkovich, from ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at UTK Daily Beacon (John Gratz)
Cinema Laser (Derek M. Germano)
Michael D's Region 4 DVD Info Page (Paul Cordingley)
Hollywood Jesus Visual Review
Movies 101 (Robert Glatzer)
Ain't It Cool Movie Reviews (Harry Knowles)
IndependentCritics.com (Richard Propes)
The Cranky Critic (Chuck Schwartz)
DVD Verdict (Mike Jackson)
DVDTown (John J. Puccio)
When the title says "Being John Malkovich," it doesn't mean being LIKE John Malkovich or even learning to understand him better. It means really BEING the actor. The film takes the old saying about "getting into a person's head" literally and develops a ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at DVDTown (John J. Puccio)
Cineclub-Filmkritik
Movie Magazine International
The Phantom Tollbooth
LA Weekly (F. X. Feeney)
It's a cheerfully deranged stunt, executed in a spirit of infectious lunacy that powers the resulting film to its strongest laughs, and weirdest depths. ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at LA Weekly (F. X. Feeney)
DVDTown.com (John J. Puccio)
...basically a one-note picture, but one of 1999's more amusing and creative efforts. ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at DVDTown.com (John J. Puccio)
TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
Bizarre, utterly original and truly indescribable comedy...You just have to see it for yourself. ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
B Fatt. & Lazy Movie Reviews
Anthony Leong's MediaCircus
MediaCircus (Anthony Leong)
In addition to being hailed as one of the year's best films, "Being John Malkovich" also earns the title of being one of the most bizarre creations to hit the big screen-- not since the early days of David Lynch ("Blue Velvet") has an unorthodox story ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at MediaCircus (Anthony Leong)
Salon (Andrew O'Hehir)
Salon.com (Andrew O'Hehir)
DVD Town (John J. Puccio)
Salon (Suzy Hansen)
Charlie Kaufman, a shy one-time TV writer for Chris Elliot's paperboy comedy "Get a Life," may not have won an Oscar last year for his outlandish screenplay for "Being John Malkovich." But its brilliant originality shoved him into the sort of spotlight ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Salon (Suzy Hansen)
The Boston Phoenix
Apollo Movie Guide (Dan Jardine)
When a file clerk finds a portal into John Malkovichâs brain, you know you are about to enter a surrealist dream. If you are ready, you may find this to be one of the most intriguing, intelligent, hilarious movies of 1999. ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Apollo Movie Guide (Dan Jardine)
Anchorage Press (Brenda Sokolowski)
Looking Closer (Jeffrey Overstreet)
Charlie Kaufman's script for "Being John Malkovich" must have seemed too good to be true for those who first looked at the project. The plot boasts the most original and daring comic premise in years. It's "Alice in Wonderland" for this decade; its ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Looking Closer (Jeffrey Overstreet)
Joe Critic.com (Sam Bear)
Being John Malkovich is a movie about a loser puppeteer (Craig) who gets a job working on the 7.5th story of a building filing papers. Its there that he discovers a portal into John Malkovich's head... After which you are dumped onto the side of the New ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Joe Critic.com (Sam Bear)
Metaphilm
Being John Malkovich is about living your life vicariously through other people. Specifically, itâs about living your life through celebrities, or the characters they play.
Just scan the shelves at your local newsagent and youâll see the ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Metaphilm
Movie Geek Central
Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents
Reel.com DVD review (Robert Payne)
The SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review
PopMatters (Cynthia Fuchs)
"Consciousness is a terrible curse." When Craig (John Cusack) makes this sage observation to his buddy, the chimp Elijah, they're watching daytime TV. Craig is home because he's unemployed, and he's despairing because no one will hire him as a puppeteer. ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at PopMatters (Cynthia Fuchs)
Moviereviews.org (Mac VerStandig)
The Squiz: Cine Philes ("Guido Mezzabotta")
Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)
Hats off to a brilliant screenplay by Charlie Kaufman and kudos to first time film director Spike Jonze (for those who recently joined my review list and for those who have already forgotten, I will recap -- Jonze, formerly a music video director, also ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)
In Film Australia
'Being John Malkovich' is a clever comedy that raises some important ethical questions. â¦No, wait, that doesnât do it justice. 'Being John Malkovich' has got to be the most outrageously nutty, incredibly wacky and compelling social commentary that I ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at In Film Australia
Entertainment Insiders (Mac VerStandig)
Movie ram-blings (Ram Samudrala)
Jump down a modern-day rabbit hole from an office with low ceilings and you end up in John Malkovich's mind! That's the premise for Being John Malkovich, and a what a incredible premise it is.
Trippy, surreal, fascinating, novel, exhilarating, ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Movie ram-blings (Ram Samudrala)
Film Comment Magazine
Sun Newspapers of Cleveland
Planet Sick-Boy (Jon Popick)
Blunt Review with Emily Blunt
Reeling Reviews (Robin and Laura Clifford)
Spirituality & Health (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
Montreal Film Journal (Kevin N. Laforest)
Harvey's Movie Review (Harvey O'Brien)
Amusing mainstream surrealist film which is refreshingly off-beat for about two thirds of the running time, but too melodramatic too often to quite escape the boundaries of convention. The premise and execution are terrific to begin with. Embittered ...read the complete Being John Malkovich movie review at Harvey's Movie Review (Harvey O'Brien)
Mixed Reviews: The Arts, The World, and More (Jill Cozzi)