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Plot

Craig Schwartz (John Cusack), a bankrupt puppeteer, and his wife Lotte (Cameron Diaz) reside in a New York apartment. Craig is successful in landing a position as an archivist at LesterCop after Lotte persuades him to search for a more lucrative position. There he meets Maxine (Catherine Keener), a coworker who immediately captures his attention. One day, Craig finds out that the company's headquarters have a hidden passageway that allows him to temporarily enter the mind of famous actor John Malkovich (who is himself) for a period of fifteen minutes.
Craig discusses his amazing discovery with Maxine, who persuades him to use the passage to start a business and improve his poor financial circumstances. After that, anyone who wishes to be John Malkovich has to pay out a reasonable sum of $20 and take pleasure in the experience...

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Why you should watch it?

Being John Malkovich is an intriguing, off-screen work. It is a nasty, intentionally unlovely black comedy about the identity issue in the modern world and the goals to attain and/or experience success no matter what. The director and author choose intelligent and thrilling approaches with a biting sarcasm steeped in the most cutting satire, capable of maintaining the bite up to the finish despite certain "WTF moments" explained far too lightly. Because the movie, while maintaining its status as an absurd and overstuffed fairy tale, also takes a cynical look at modern society (both then, when the movie was filmed , and now) and the desire for celebrity that percolates - in certain people more so than in others - in the majority of people. An unrecognizable Cameron Diaz and Catherine Keener's femme fatale are the ones who move with the most comfort in this cerebral pinnacle of the absurd, full of cameos and pure moral nastiness.

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Like all of Kaufman's screenplays, there are numerous ways to interpret this one. The most widely accepted explanation is that the entire movie is a treatment of the identity-seeking process. In fact, each character is looking for themselves, even if it means drastically modifying who they are. The potential to "get inside Malkovich's head" is a direct allegory for the adult desire to "be someone else." In fact, after having had the experience of inhabiting the actor, each of the characters feels the need for a significant shift in their personal lives. Kaufman appears to be trying to illustrate how this quest for oneself might be more complicated than anticipated, leaving the individual to be internally split into several parts.

An aspect of critique is the accusation that culture, the media, and ultimately society as a whole, judge (and reward) art and aesthetic characteristics not for what they truly are in their core, but rather for the circumstances under which they are presented. Despite his incredible talent, puppeteer Craig is an unemployed loser who, because of everyone's disdain, is unable to even capture the hearts of passersby on the street. But when it is delivered by John Malkovich, the same art that comes from Craig and is ignored achieves recognition and reputation on a global scale. In other words, it makes no difference what is said. Who says it, matters.

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Conclusion

Apart from the movie itself, which I found to be a very good one, what I really like is how it makes you reflect and wonder. The themes it deals with are some of the most recurrent in our society. Who hasn't thought at least once how it would be to live the life of someone else (especially famous people)? In a society where we basically can "check" on everyone life, thanks to social networks, we always forget that what people share are always the best moments of their lives. When we put a photo/video on a social network, most of the times is because we want to share with other people a success, an happy moment, a victory etc..., we don't usually share sad moments.
I think that the life of everyone is unique in it's own ways, and instead of spending it dreaming about being someone else, one should enjoy as much as she/he can.

Rating

My personal vote is:

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8.5/10

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