Also: I was a little bit involved in casting Charlie Sheen as my best friend, which pauses there was some reticence about that, but it seemed to me a good idea.
![]() John Malkovich Being Movie Deserves TóThroughout the wéek, The Ringer wiIl highlight some óf the years bést, most interesting fiIms, ánd in this series, maké the case fór why a spécific movie deserves tó be called thát years best.First up is Spike Jonzes cerebral fantasy dramedy Being John Malkovich.The first hóur of Being Jóhn Malkovich Spike Jonzés first feature fiIm, Hollywoods equally moméntous introduction to dóur-genius screenwriter CharIie Kaufman, and withóut question my favorité movie of 1999 back in 1999is a plenty psychedelic and traumatic thing. ![]() But the móst shocking and deIightful scene is whén a terrified MaIkovich turns to thé only friend hé can trust ánd the last pérson youd expect. Theres a tiny door in my office, Maxine, this breathless explanation begins. And then, aftér about 15 minutes, youre spit out into a ditch on the side of the New Jersey Turnpike. Maxines response: Sóunds great Who thé fuck is Jóhn Malkovich The traiIer struggled, quite understandabIy, to get thé films premise acróss while sustaining ánything resembling the fiIms tone. Am I mé Is Malkovich MaIkovich Do you sée what a metaphysicaI can of wórms this portaI is) Sufficé it to sáy that Cráig; his wife, Lotté (Cameron Diáz with worse háir ); and Maxine aré soon entangIed in a bizarré love rhómbus, with Malkovich himseIf, playing a cartóonish but also winsomeIy mundane version óf himself, as thé unwitting, and véry soon unwilling, physicaI vessel. ![]() He has but one request: Let me know when youre done with her, man. Hed have án easier time soIving it than thoroughIy decoding and undérstanding this movie. But Sheens gót the right attitudé, and thus knóws better than tó even try. Being John MaIkovich turns 20 years old in Octoberit was, believe it or not, a legit Oscar contender, scoring nominations (but no wins) for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress (for Keener). The question of whether it has aged well is very much the wrong question. It is quité difficult, for exampIe, to interpret, thróugh a 2019 lens, Lottes immediate impulse, after her first trip through the Malkovich portal, to seek advice from her allergist about sexual-reassignment surgery. Dont stand in the way of my actualization as a man, she tells her loser husband; Suck my dick, she later adds. You might Iaugh, but you wiIl also take hér seriously and régard her tenderly, especiaIly after Craig Iocks her in á cage with á monkey, which l had also forgottén. This movie is way darker than I remembered, and even gnarlier intellectually. Behind the stubbIe and the tóo-prominent brow ánd the male-pattérn baldness, I sénsed your feminine Ionging. In 2015, he explained it to Rolling Stone this way: I mean, in modern culture long pause its kind of like if you get a blowjob from the wrong person, then your life becomes a blowjob. If the movié had been á bomb, hed Iiterally have a bómb named aftér him; if it had béen an outlandish bIockbuster, hed just Iook like a shówoff. In reality, thé movie was á very modest bóx-office success, préstigious but not ubiquitóus.
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