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| John
Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, John Malkovich, Orson Bean,
Charlie Sheen |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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Craig
Schwartz: Can I buy you a drink, Maxine?
Maxine: Are you married?
Craig Schwartz: Yes, but enough about me.
A
puppeteer discovers a doorway that leads into John Malkovich's head
and decides to turn it into a business.
 Whatever
else can be said about it, Being John Malkovich is a truly original
film. On a superficial level it plays out like a surreal comedy. But
the movie has a tragic undertone that helps keep everything grounded
in a strange kind of reality. The script by Charlie Kaufman is way out
there, but the plot is developed in a matter-of-fact style. In effect,
the film is the epitome of deadpanning, which is exactly what makes
it effective. Its ingenuity and brilliant first half hour almost make
it forgivable that the laughs diminish strongly as the film progresses
and its comic timing seems to waver.
Director Spike Jonze made a name for himself directing wildly original
music videos for groups such as the Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Fat Boy
Slim, Weezer and REM (Michael Stipe was one of the movie's producers).
He doesn't dissapoint here with his first feature film. Jonze's style
is inventive and different but he knows where to stop before going completely
off the rails. All the actors are good, but it's John Malkovich who
gives a truly brilliant performance. The actor begins by playing what
is supposed to be himself, but seems more like a composite of how the
general public pictures him. He must then pull off something even more
difficult, which is to take on the personality of whoever is inside
his head. When Craig learns to control his body, Malkovich makes a notable
shift into playing John Cusack. He does it so well that I eventually
forgot he was acting; it really seemed like John Cusack inside John
Malkovich. This man clearly deserves his own portal. |
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Region 1 and Region 2 are nearly identical.
Region 1 has 2 extra featurettes, which add little to the overall package.
This review deals with the Region 2 DVD.
The anamorphic widescreen picture
is framed at 1:85:1. The transfer is somewhat soft and suffers from
the very dark cinematography. I've seen enough movies with dark scenes
that come across better on dvd (Wag The Dog for instance has
razor sharp and vivid dark images). Just how dark BJM looks becomes
clear with the fantastic looking end credits in the swimming pool.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is nice and dialogues are clear. The only
impressive sound effects occur inside the head of John Malkovich.
The
extras on this DVD stay in the spirit of the movie but are utterly pointless.
The featurettes are the documentaries seen in the movie and the interview
with director Spike Jonze is a badly judged sick joke. The TV spots
and the trailer are worth watching.The
animated menus are easy to navigate and are nicely rendered with music
from the soundtrack (a terrific score by the way from Carter Burwell).
Gerard Castelein
Reviewed: 2001
Click
here for IMDB info on Being
John Malkovich.
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to return to the front page.
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