One of those bizarre films that should be a bit rubbish but somehow seems to work. Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is a failed puppeteer who is forced to get a job as a filing clerk in order to make some money. The company he goes to work for is based on the 7.5th floor of a local building. One day, he finds a mysterious doorway behind a filing cabinet. When he crawls through it, into a wierd tunnel, he finds himself transported into John Malkovich's head for 15 minutes before being spat out onto the side of the New Jersey turnpike.
He teams up with a woman that works on the same floor (Maxine - a woman he's trying desperately to have an affair with) in order to turn the discovery into a business proposition by selling tickets to be John Malkovich for 15 minutes. Enter his wife, Lotte (played by an extremely dowdy looking Cameron Diaz), who enters Malkovich's mind and decides that a) she should have been born a man, and b) she is also in love with Maxine. Maxine decides that she quite fancies Lotte, but only when she's inside Malkovich. Cue a bizarre love triangle. Unfortunately, Craig can't cope with that so he locks his wife in a cage and tricks Maxine into meeting Malkovich - but he's inside his head instead of Lotte. He then discovers he can control Malkovich by harnessing his puppeteering skills.
There is an explanation for the portal, and yes, it is odd.
Somehow it works though and is quite enjoyable.
My rating: 7.5 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.9 / 10
Running time: 112 mins
IMDB link
