Being John Malkovich

1999 Directed by Spike Jonze

Ever wanted to be someone else? Now you can.

One day at work, unsuccessful puppeteer Craig finds a portal into the head of actor John Malkovich. The portal soon becomes a passion for anybody who enters its mad and controlling world of overtaking another human body.

John Cusack Cameron Diaz Catherine Keener John Malkovich Orson Bean Mary Kay Place Charlie Sheen Reginald C. Hayes W. Earl Brown Carlos Jacott Willie Garson Byrne Piven Gregory Sporleder Octavia Spencer Ned Bellamy Eric Weinstein Madison Lanc K. K. Dodds Judith Wetzell Kevin Carroll Gerald Emerick Bill M. Ryusaki Richard Fancy Patti Tippo Daniel Hansen Mariah O'Brien Kelly Teacher Jacqueline Benoît William Buck Show All…

Alternative Titles

Dans la peau de John Malkovitch, 变脑, 傀儡人生, 玩谢麦高维治, 존 말코비치 되기

drama fantasy comedy

113 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Than Tibbetts ★★★★★ 18

Malkovich. Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich, Malkovich. Malkovich? Malkovich, Malkovich Malkovich. Malkovich! Malkovich? Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich. Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich... Malkovich. Malkovich Malkovich, Malkovich. Malkovich? Malkovich, Malkovich Malkovich. Malkovich!
Review by Karsten Runquist ★★★★½ 11

Hate films like this because they're so good I usually just don't know where to begin when I have to write about them. It's one of those that takes full advantage of the creative freedom that comes with filmmaking and reminds me why I love this art form so much.
Not a horror film but the existential anxiety that this comes with is enough for me to qualify it as a spooky watch for Halloween this year.
Review by Adam Cook ★★★★★ 46

You’d be hard pressed to find a more startling or complete debut in the past twenty years than Spike Jonze’s absurdly brilliant, Being John Malkovich. With a premise almost too perfect to be real and a razor-sharp script to match it is one of the last modern classics of the ‘90s. It’s an intricately structured and surreal masterpiece full of existential melancholy and offbeat whimsy.
It is the synthesis of two creative forces (Jonze and screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman) working in perfect harmony to create a work that was quite unlike anything else at the time. In lesser hands it would have been little more than a failed experiment with a bizarre synopsis but this is a dense, provocative, witty and…
Review by brat pitt ★★★★ 1

queer women AND a brad pitt cameo?! NICE!!!!!!!!
Review by Siegel™ ★★★★½ 9

man, the casting director really must've had their fingers crossed
Review by Mikael Stånggren ★★★★★ 6

Love how John Malkovich, in the midst of losing his marbles and getting ready for the loony bin, turns to Charlie Sheen for advice. That right there is when the film transcends from great, bizarre fun to a surrealistic masterpiece.
Review by katie ★★★★★ 2

fuck craig, but one of the best endings i've ever seen.
Review by DirkH ★★★★★ 5

I like being puppeteered by Spike Jonze.
It is a unique experience.
Review by James (Schaffrillas) ★★★½ 18

Honestly fuck Maxine, Lotte deserves so much better
Review by sophie ★★★★ 1

you know you're fucked when you ask charlie sheen for advice
Review by Branson Reese 19

I don't know that I love Charlie Kaufman, to be honest. Weird thing to confront, considering how good this and Adaptation are and how rewatchable and lush I find them to this day.
The risk with a brain -and I think he'd agree with me here- as broken as Kaufman's is that untempered it can tilt too far into misanthropy (Eternal Sunshine) or myopia (basically everything after Eternal Sunshine.) I understand that the canon opinion seems to be that he rules and so that sort of defaults any dissenting opinions into one of two camps: normies who just don't get it or ultra-pretentious snobs who also don't get it but know enough to act superior to the canon opinion. That's…
Review by rachel ★★★★ 1

what actually posesses someone to sit down and write a film like this? i have no words

Recent reviews

Review by √aibhav ★★★★

Surreal, funny and touches different emotions throughout the runtime.
Review by Chateau4Joe ★★★★

MALKOVICH.
Review by Alpha Movies ★★★★½

94%🍿
Being John Malkovich is one of the most interesting films I've ever seen! The concept itself is simply genius and unlike anything else. Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze are both known for crafting incredibly unique stories and this is some of their best work!
I think it's also safe to say that this is some of John Cusack's best work. He gives such a passionate performance and his character is so engaging to watch. At first, he's very likable, but as the film goes on, you realize that he's insane! Cameron Diaz also gives a phenomenal performance! She's so full of emotion and her character is pretty similar to Cusack's character. She's likable at first, but she slowly starts…
Review by MessAnderson ★★★★

Being John Malkovich? Try being a single mother
Review by Andrew Rogers ★★★

Obviously creative and playful in its set design, and the script has a distinct perspective on how difficult it is to get the heck out of your own head and live your life (even when you have access to the head of another). But it’s less than half as funny as I recall—many of the jokes fit snugly in the “it’s funny because they said a naughty word” category—and Kaufman’s fervent obsession with explaining why it’s so so awfully tragically hard to want to fuck a woman who isn’t your partner chafes right off the bat.
Review by emojiss ★★★★★

can appreciate a happy lesbian ending
Review by arleth ★★★★½

this movie has so many funny quotes it's insane
Review by ejbraceface

A very horny film, to be sure.
Review by Victoria Silveira ★★★★★

Eu quero ser John Malkovich!!!!!!!
Review by Zack Paslay

Took me awhile to get into this, but I really liked it in the end! Would absolutely argue that John Malkovich should’ve been nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of himself in this. Cameron Diaz was an underrated actress!
Review by chasefrater ★★★★½

Watching this movie is an experience of its own. Definitely make time for it.
Review by CineastKS ★★★★½

Rank the characters how sympathetic/likeable they are:
5. Maxine
4. Craig
3. Lotte
2. John Malkovich
1. The Monkey