Being John Malkovich is a 1999 film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze.
Warning: Wikipedia contains spoilers
The film centers around a puppeteer named Craig Schwartz, who gets a job at the Lestercorp company in the fictional Mertin-Flemmer building in New York City. In an office one day he finds a door in a wall; going through it, he is transported into the brain of actor John Malkovich. He sees, hears, and feels everything Malkovich experiences for about fifteen minutes, then is deposited into a ditch next to the New Jersey Turnpike. Schwartz and Maxine, a coworker he is unrequitedly attracted to, set up a night business charging people to experience it. Schwartz eventually becomes adept at controlling Malkovich and resides in the body for several months before an ending, seen by some as tragic, in which he is absorbed into the body of the unborn baby of Maxine and Malkovich (conceived while Schwartz's wife Lotte was inside Malkovich).
The film was widely praised for its originality, both in terms of the script and Jonze's direction. Kaufman's blending of fact and outrageous fiction was a theme continued in his next film Adaptation (which features Kaufman himself as a character - the making of Being John Malkovitch features briefly in Adaptation). Jonze's direction and the performances of the lead actors was also viewed favourably by most critics. As well as Malkovitch's performance as himself (or at least a version of himself), Cameron Diaz's small role as Lotte attracted considerable attention, at least partly as she was almost unrecognizable as the dowdy Lotte.
Cast list:
- John Cusack - Craig Schwartz
- Cameron Diaz - Lotte Schwartz
- John Malkovich - John Malkovich
- Catherine Keener - Maxine
- Orson Bean - Dr. Lester
- Mary Kay Place - Floris
