Being John Malkovich
| Being John Malkovich | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Spike Jonze |
| Produced by |
Michael Stipe Sandy Stern Steve Golin Vincent Landay |
| Written by | Charlie Kaufman |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Carter Burwell |
| Cinematography | Lance Acord |
| Edited by | Eric Zumbrunnen |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | USA Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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112 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $13 million |
| Box office | $32.4 million |
| Being John Malkovich: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
| Released | 1999 |
| Genre | Electronic, jazz, soft rock |
| Label | Astralwerks |
| Producer | Various |
| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
Being John Malkovich is a 1999 American fantasy-comedy film directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman, both making their feature film debut. The film stars John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, and Catherine Keener, with John Malkovich and Charlie Sheen as themselves. The film follows a puppeteer who finds a portal that leads into Malkovich's mind.
Released by USA Films, the film was nominated in three categories at the 72nd Academy Awards: Best Director for Jonze, Best Original Screenplay for Kaufman and Best Supporting Actress for Keener.
Craig Schwartz (Cusack) is an unemployed puppeteer in a forlorn marriage with his pet-obsessed wife Lotte (Diaz). Gaining a file clerk job through Dr. Lester (Bean) at LesterCorp, in the strange Floor 7½ low-ceiling offices of the Mertin-Flemmer Building in New York City, he develops an attraction to his coworker Maxine Lund (Keener), who does not return his affections. Craig enters a small door hidden behind a filing cabinet and finds himself in the mind of actor John Malkovich. Craig is able to observe and sense whatever Malkovich does for fifteen minutes before he is ejected and dropped into a ditch near the New Jersey Turnpike. He reveals the portal to Maxine and they let others use it for $200 a turn.
Craig tells Lotte, who becomes obsessed with the experience, allowing her to live out her transgender desires. Lotte becomes attracted to Maxine and they begin a sexual relationship via Lotte being inside Malkovich's head while Maxine has sex with Malkovich. Craig, forsaken by both women, binds and gags Lotte and locks her in a cage, then enters Malkovich's mind and has sex with Maxine. Craig discovers that he is able to control Malkovich's actions while in his head, causing the actor to become paranoid. After consulting with his friend Charlie Sheen, Malkovich trails Maxine to the Mertin-Flemmer building, where he tries the portal and is placed in a world where everyone looks like him and can only say "Malkovich". He is ejected and meets Craig by the turnpike. Malkovich demands that the portal be closed, but Craig refuses.
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