Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, John Cusack

A man takes a new job on the 7th-and-a-half floor of an office building and stumbles upon a membranous room that leads inside the head of stage and screen actor John Malkovich. There he can see life t...( read more  read more... )hrough Malkovich's eyes before being systematically ejected from the room and onto the New Jersey turnpike. The man then rents out Malkovich's head to others, eventually letting his wife inside where she falls in love with another woman who, in turn, thinks she has fallen in love with John Malkovich.

Flixster Users

85% liked it

122,722 ratings

Critics

92% liked it

113 critics

R, 1 hr. 52 min.

Directed by: Spike Jonze

Release Date: October 29, 1999

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DVD Release Date: May 2, 2000

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Stats: 12,599 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (12,599)


  • September 25, 2009
    Really weird movie. It was ok at first, and then it just got ridiculous. I love Malkovich, but Cusack and Diaz were just annoying.
  • September 3, 2009
    A bizarre but wonderful comedy from Spike Jonze, the king of quirky. This is also the most original film to come out in the last ten years, it's brilliant stuff. Good on John Malkovich too for treading where most A-list actors would have feared to go.
  • August 15, 2009
    The film is a collection of clever ideas that never coalesce. The characters' lives and loves and talents relate in abstract ways, and the story brings them together without actually digging deep enough to make them meaningful. If it does, its insight is never clear. The story it...( read more)self is occasionally inspired and mostly unpredictable, and while I admire the goal of creatively defying convention, the experiment is unsatisfying for lack of a common thread to tie all the weirdness together, to make it not merely interesting but coherent.
  • August 1, 2009
    Review coming soon
  • July 16, 2009
    "Ever wanted to be someone else? Now you can."

    A puppeteer discovers a portal that leads literally into the head of the movie star, John Malkovich.

    REVIEW

    Wow. It took me quite a while to ...( read more)realize the true genius of this film, which, when seen in it's right light really comes of as a masterpice of modern cinema. This picture bares no resemblance with anything you have seen before, and the very essence of the plot is unique to the very end, despite being a very philosophical issue that man probably has been thinking of/about since the dawn of time. Really, how would you like to be some one else? Whilst on the subject, how would you like to be the award winning actor John Malkovich?

    With astounding performances from a great set of actors, a script to die for, directing that will be remembered as nothing but excellent, and a set of events occuring that is on the edge of Pythonesque in it's amazing humor and wittiness, "Being John Malkovich" really has an aura of perfection like few movies can. To be compared with Citizen Kane, Brazil, Metropolis and other works of genius. I love this film.
  • November 3, 2009
    La vi hace poco y me gusto. Me recordo la historia del Aleph. Muy erotica.
  • October 31, 2009
    Intelligent, original, funny, tragic. Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman have created one of the best films of the decade, one which gets better (and funnier) with each viewing.
  • October 28, 2009
    That was weird..... But brilliant !
  • October 17, 2009
    Perfect. For me. No heroes and villains. Just flawed characters who are affected by the circumstances.
  • October 10, 2009
    One of the best movies I have ever seen - a must watch for any film buff.

Critic Reviews


January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Either Being John Malkovich gets nominated for best picture, or the members of the Academy need portals into their brains. full review

View more Being John Malkovich reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • perfectgentlemn
    July 20, 2008
    Oh man, this movie was so off the wall, I loved it. John Malkovich is the best too.
  • gaerniak
    February 4, 2007
    Great paradoxes and black comedy won't keep you from not liking this one.
  • daniboy2099
    December 23, 2006
    Great Movie, John Malkovich is Awesome!

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Being John Malkovich Trivia


  • Who played John Malkovich in "Being John Malkovich"?  Answer »
  • Class, Better Off Dead and Being John Malkovich all have which actor in common?  Answer »
  • The Ice Harvest was his Thin Red Line, Serendipity it may have been, but the Grosse Pointe Blank was an Identity away from Being John Malkovich. His High Fidelity lead to Stand By Me, you can Say Anything but he's a Sure Thing or an America's Sweetheart.  Answer »
  • In being John Malkovich, Who Plays Craig?  Answer »

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