Being John Malkovich (1999)

I just... don't like this film very much.  I would normally assume that I watched it due to liking Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, but that can't be the case because Being John Malkovich came out first and I definitely saw it at the cinema.  And I don't even think I liked it then, so I must have bought it purely because John Cusack was in it.  This was not a Be Kind Rewind experience - I did not enjoy it more the second time at all.  All I kept thinking as I watched it was "Did I really enjoy this the first time I saw it?  Why do I own this??  Everything is just so uncomfortable..."

It's really quite bizarre to have John Malkovich be the most likeable character in a film.  Not to be insulting, but it's really against the grain for him and I'm not sure it's intentional.  I enjoyed this film the most whenever he was on screen, and his exploration of his own subconscious is very inventive.

All in all though, I dislike this film.  It'll be going to the second hand store tomorrow.

Final Thought:  It is interesting to see story elements in this film that Charlie Kaufman clearly managed to make more successful in Eternal Sunshine.

Up Next:  Big Fish (2003)