Being John Malkovich (1999)

From the ever-so-slightly twisted mind of Charlie Kaufman comes an incredibly inventive and innovative film which was also the feature debut of director Spike Jonze, previously a director of music videos and commercials. The result is a film that still feels incredibly fresh twenty years after its initial release.

Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is a puppeteer who performs on a street corner in New York City. He is married to Lotte (Cameron Diaz) who works in a pet store, due to her incredible love of all animals. In fact, her love of animals is so strong, they have a veritable menagerie of animals living with them, including a chimpanzee, a parrot, a dog, a cat, an iguana, and many, many more.

As you can probably imagine, there isn’t a lot of money in puppetry, particularly in the incredibly lifelike - and at times a little risqué - marionettes Craig builds and performs with. Lotte suggests to him he find some more stable, paid work.

Craig (John Cusack), working on one of his puppet creations.

He answers a mysterious ad in the newspaper, calling for a short-statured filing clerk. Arriving at the building, he learns the company is on floor 7 ½ (which is reached by pressing the emergency stop button in the elevator between levels 7 and 8). The ceilings are low - low overheads, as everyone says - and the staff are all a little strange.

From receptionist Floris (Mary Kay Place), who can’t seem to understand what anyone is ever saying to her, to boss Dr. Lester (Orson Bean), who speaks and acts in an incredibly cryptic way at all times.

Craig also meets co-worker Maxine (Catherine Keener), with whom he becomes instantly smitten.

While trying to retrieve a file that has fallen behind a filing cabinet in his office, Craig discovers a small door that leads to a dark tunnel. Crawling through the tunnel, he discovers it is actually a portal that transports the ‘crawler’ into the mind of actor John Malkovich for fifteen minutes at a time, before spitting them back out beside the New Jersey Turnpike.

Lotte (Cameron Diaz).

Craig and Maxine quickly see the money-making potential from such a tunnel, and it isn’t long before they are selling tickets into Malkovich’s head to people who are unsatisfied with their own lives.

Everything seems to be going fine, until John Malkovich gets wind of what is going on, and shows up at their office, demanding they let him have a go. The results, of course, are at once fascinating and incredibly disturbing.

Charlie Kaufman’s screenplay is incredibly clever, with plenty of twists and turns throughout. All the characters are filled to the brim with both internal and external conflicts. I even find that each time I watch this film, I seem to notice new and different things every time, and it becomes even more incredible with each viewing, too.

Maxine (Catherine Keener).

The original score, by Carter Burwell, doesn’t have a lot to it. Music isn’t used much at all in this film, but when it is, it is near-perfect. The instrumentation is reasonably traditional throughout, but the music never overpowers the action, seeking only to support it, which it does well.

What really makes this film great, however, is the performances. Cusack and Diaz in particular are fantastic, as is Orson Bean as the eccentric Dr. Lester. All of the puppetry in the film is done by Phillip Huber who, as those who have seen the film can attest, is a genius in the truest sense of the word.

Director Spike Jonze, who has gone on to make several other equally-great films, has made a true gem here. I would definitely recommend this film if you haven’t seen it yet, and even if you have, check it out again; you never know what you might discover this time around.

8 out of 10.

Get Out (2016)

This film was comedian Jordan Peele’s directorial debut. And what a debut it was, too.

Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) is visiting his girlfriend Rose’s (Allison Williams) parents for the first time, having been seeing Rose for about five months. And he is absolutely terrified. What if they don’t like him? Has Rose even told them he is black?

Rose reassures him that her parents will be fine with him, after all, her dad always says he would have voted for Obama for a third term if he could have.

Chris reluctantly agrees, and goes with her up to their country home upstate. He is introduced to Dean (Bradley Whitford) and Missy (Catherine Keener), and later Rose’s brother Jeremy (Caleb Landry Jones). They seem like a nice enough white family; then again, they have two black servants: groundskeeper Walter (Marcus Henderson) and housekeeper Georgina (Betty Gabriel).

Not only that, but everyone seems to be acting awfully strange around Chris, especially when a bunch of Dean and Missy’s friends stop by the next day for a big party, and are behaving very oddly indeed.

I really can’t say more than this, for fear of spoiling the rest of the film for you. It is well worth watching, and actually, I would suggest watching it multiple times if you can; you notice a lot more on subsequent viewings.

The most incredible thing about this film is the clever screenplay, written by director Jordan Peele. There are a handful of comedic moments, which fans of his previous work will no doubt recognise and appreciate. But the key to this script is the horror that lies just below the surface for the majority of the film. It is a very clear representation of what Peele has experienced in his own past, growing up in the United States as an African American. The strongest themes of the film are those that address and deal with race and race issues, including race relations throughout society, particularly white middle-class American society.

In fact, the script is so tightly written, and well constructed, it is hard to believe that this is Peele’s first foray into screenwriting. I imagine it must have taken him a lot of time and hard work to fill his script, and consequently his film, with so many little nuanced parts. Peele is an incredibly gifted writer, that much is clear, both from his past work as a comedian and here in this film, but this screenplay is far and above his best work to date. I for one can’t wait to see what he does next.

The cast performances are all perfectly on point, but especially the performances of Kaluuya and Williams as the young couple. Both of them bring their absolute all to their roles, and their dedication and hard work really pay off on screen.

There is also a great cameo performance by Stephen Root as a party guest, blind art curator Jim Hudson.

And if you saw the end of this film coming, I suggest you seek psychiatric help. Immediately.

That being said, I think this is one of the greatest films of its time. It is so well written, so well shot, so well directed, so well acted, so well scored, there can only be one appropriate rating.

10 out of 10.

Begin Again (2013)

Begin Again tells the story of newly-out-of-work record producer Dan (Mark Ruffalo) and sometime-songwriter Gretta (Keira Knightley) and their endeavours to record and release an album in the outdoors of New York City, after the record company Dan co-founded refuses to sign her.

In fact, the city of New York actually functions as a character of sorts in the film. We are taken on a journey through the many sights and sounds of the city, in a film that must be described as a 'love letter' to the city itself.

Dan's quasi-relationship with his ex-wife (Catherine Keener) and daughter Violet (Hailee Steinfeld) supports the film also, as a subplot that provides further background into Dan's character, portrayed masterfully by Mark Ruffalo (then again, is there any film in which Mark Ruffalo hasn't portrayed his character masterfully? If there is, I'd be surprised)

Gretta has her own backstory/subplot as well, of course. She has recently broken up with her boyfriend, singer Dave (Adam Levine of Maroon 5 fame), and her previous hurts provide great fodder for her songwriting. She lives with long-time friend Steve (James Corden), who also helps out Dan and Gretta with the album, along with a few other colourful characters sourced from Dan's long list of contacts in the music industry.

This film is a wonderfully pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. Yes, it has its ups and downs, but then again, so does life. This film does an adequate job of portraying one particular slice of life for the characters.

Standout performances come from Mark Ruffalo (as previously stated), Hailee Steinfeld and acting-newcomer Adam Levine, who does a pretty decent job of crossing over to film.

The film has a lot of heart, and a lot of great music (as long as it's to one's taste, I guess!)


7 out of 10.