Hey, everyone. In my previous post I talked about how Charlie Kaufman is my favorite ever screenwriter and one of my favorite filmmakers in general. After that, I decided to start a Charlie Kaufman week. This is day one with his first-ever movie as a screenwriter:
Charlie Kaufman
Synopsis
Craig Schwartz takes a job at a company where he discovers a portal that takes whoever goes into it to the mind of renowned actor John Malkovich. Craig Schwartz informs his coworker, Maxine, about it as they start to capitalize on what he found. At the same time, a rather strange relationship starts developing between Craig, Maxine, and Craig's wife Lotte.
The film creates a nice Kafkaesque feeling to it. Especially as you go through the structure of the office where Craig Schwartz lives and how his higher-ups behave often.
What I Liked About The Movie
In the age of modern cinema, it's hard to find a new kind of story. This one presents us with a surrealist, quirky comedy that starts from a simple place and unfolds toward a chaotic place that serves both the comedic aspect of it, as well as the narrative.
The actors have all done a great job of making the story believable, at least believable enough considering the concept. It's very hard finding a believable comedy, and it's even harder doing it with such a concept. The actors have done with that.
The characters in the movies all seemed to have their own traits that made the movie a beautiful watch. The way the characters were playing off each other was escalating in a great way toward the end.
The cinematography was also great in executing the concept the movie was going with. It felt commercial at a time, which serves the theme, but also kept a lot of cinematography tricks to play with.
Finally, the philosophy of the movie served as a great thought-provoking jumping point. The meaning of the movie isn't spoonfed to you. That makes for a great rewatchable movie even today. In fact, I think the movie is more relevant in today's social media age than it was back in 1999.
What I Didn't Like About The Movie
As good as the characters and are as good as the people playing them, the characters seemed too self-serving. Maybe, because of the movie timing, but, it always felt like the characters were rushing their decisions. It always seemed like decisions were happening too fast.
It's not that I mind this that much. But, since the characters were fast-moving, it often felt like they were rushing. The movie feels like it was happening a bit too fast to serve the philosophy of the movie.
It's not really a big issue for me, to be honest. It's just something I feel anyone watching the movie might have a problem with it.
The third act is where that problem specifically shows. Things kind of go from difficult to easy. The solving of the plot does come off as a Deus ex machine.
In Conclusion
Being John Malkovich is a movie experience that I have gone back to often. It is not a movie that you watch only once. It is enjoyable, funny, quirky, yet remains profound in its meaning. Still, the movie could have used a slower pace often, especially near the time when everything is resolved.
