Being John Malkovich

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Spike Jonze directs. Lance Acord behind the camera. Carter Burwell scores. Eric Zumbrunnen cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 127 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.
• 3Directed by Spike Jonze, shot by Lance Acord. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Carter Burwell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Eric Zumbrunnen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6John Cusack and Cameron Diaz and John Malkovich carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "Ever wanted to be someone else? Now you can.".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0120601 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Classified under 15 themes, including "witch", "sexual identity", "individual", "secret love".
• 10Released under 34 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Lance Acord

Original score

Carter Burwell

Editing

Eric Zumbrunnen

Production design

K.K. Barrett

Costume design

Casey Storm

Sound

Gary Gegan

Stunt coordinator

Dan Bradley

Runtime

113 min · 1h 53m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$13,000,000

Box office

$22,863,596

Return

176% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Being John Malkovich (1999) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

94% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

90/100

IMDB rating

7.7/10 · 367,080 votes

MPAA

R

Also by

Spike Jonze

• 
  The Final Flare

  2008 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Hot Chocolate

  2004 · ★ 10.0
• 
  The Medúlla Videos

  2005 · ★ 9.0
• 
  Weezer: Video Capture Device - Treasures from the Vault 1991-2002

  2004 · ★ 8.6
• 
  Pretty Sweet

  2012 · ★ 8.5
• 
  Björk: Volumen

  1998 · ★ 8.4

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  John Malkovich Goes Into His Own Head

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  Malkovich's Masterful Marionettes

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Malkovich Inside Malkovich Scene

  Clip · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• d54.pod2022-09-26
  ★ 10/10

  Full review: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2YaFaVOq4cOeC7BBgUgmou?si=dfb200c90b4d4e74 ---- While there are many movies about self discovery, self growth and identity, not many (if really any) have taken the approach of 'Being John Malkovich'. The general premise of the movie is: struggling puppeteer Craig discovers a portal allowing him to enter the mind of the actor John Malkovich. Through multiple attempts of possessing John Malkovich, he is able to take control of the actor and live his life through him. His wife, Lotte, and his new love interest Maxine are also entangled in the journey. The finale of the movie shifts the dynamics in the relationship as Lotte and Maxine find love and Craig is eventually forever trapped in a kind of 'sunken place'. While the movies plot is somewhat straightforward and easy to follow, the movie is highly entertaining due to the great writing and screenplay along with the great pacing and performances from the small but highly talented cast (Cusack, Diaz, Keener and Malkovich). There are also enough elements of absurdity and surrealism to create this somewhat fantastical world we are immersed in. However, the real highlight of 'Being John Malkovich' is the number of ethical and philosophical questions about self identity and consciousness it evokes. The central question asked in this movie, is what is identity and how do we define it? The central character Craig, battles throughout the film with his desire for both power and clout. As a highly insecure struggling artist, he instantly falls for Maxine, but it's clear his desire is more about what Maxine represent's (a highly confident and seductive women) rather than who she is as an individual. She is a means to an end to help make up for all that is lacking in Craig's life. He believes that having possession of someone like Maxine would help him in his endeavour as an artist and ultimately a man. Lotte on the other hand, while also struggling with self-acceptance, is looking for someone to fill the void which has been left by Craig through his disinterest in her romantically as her husband. Lotte appears to be somewhat of a victim throughout the film, as her struggle to find love, and embrace her own power comes through some rather difficult and unfortunate circumstances (e.g. being rejected by Maxine on multiple occasions and later being trapped in a cage with her pet Chimpanzee). Maxine, maybe the most interesting of the 3, comes across as opportunistic and rather shallow, but highly confident in contrast to Craig and Lotte. Her journey to eventual happiness comes in the way of realising the beauty within through falling in love with Lotte, but at first, only when she is in Malkovich's vessel. In contrast, her relationship with Craig when he has captured Malkovich is shallow and unsatisfying. The subtle similarities, and stark differences between these three characters leads to some interesting questions which are posed about self discovery and the journey each character takes to uncover about themselves. John Malkovich, although mostly just a device throughout the film, has perhaps the most bizarre scene in the entire movie, when he himself enters his own portal and see's a world full of different versions of himself. This scene has a number of different interpretations about how we often view ourselves, the different characters we play in our own lives, and how our subconscious can be visually represented. Being John Malkovich is a special movie which takes a central theme of identity and makes the audience question what that really means. It does so in a highly engaging manner, never sacrificing an engaging story for the overall deeper themes at hand. It's a movie which viewers can come back to multiple times and still be in awe.

  Read full review ↓
• r96sk2025-01-06
  ★ 8/10

  <em>'Being John Malkovich'</em> sure is quite something! Despite not knowing the type of movie that it is, I'm always wanted to get this one watched purely because of the title. Now I've seen it, I'm pleased I've done so. It's strange on the surface, though by the end it's... almost normal? Based on the opening and the genre it's listed under on Wikipedia, I was expecting more of an artsy sorta thing. Pleasantly, it isn't that. Of course it has deeper meaning and I'm not saying I got 100% of it, though in the end it's relatively simple. But impressive and original, no doubt. I love that John Malkovich agreed to do this, I now read that he was apparently "half intrigued and half horrified" when he first read the script - I can see why! John Cusack, Cameron Diaz (took me a while to recognise her) and Catherine Keener are all great behind (inside?) JM. My only criticism is that it didn't keep the humour that it shows when Craig first meets Lester, the <em>'Airplane!'</em>-esque nature of it fitted so well. Sure, there is plenty of humour in there, but the deadpan delivery of Lester (and Floris, of course) is the most amusing.

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2026-03-20
  ★ 7/10

  “Craig” (John Cusack) is married to “Lotte” (Cameron Diaz) but it’s more of a convenient arrangement as they both struggle to make ends meet. He is a professional puppeteer so whilst that allows him to dwell in world of creative fantasy, it doesn’t put food on the table. To supplement his income he takes a job working in a New York office building that could have come straight out of Lewis Carroll. Everyone has to stoop, the elevators are barely big enough to accommodate an human being and the whole place has a distinctly curious feel to it. He takes a bit of a shine to his colleague “Maxine” (Catherine Keener) but she’s pretty disinterested in having a fling with a scruffy looking married man, so poor old “Craig” is fairly despondent when he discovers a small door hidden behind one of the filing cabinets. Intrigued, he crawls down what looks like a rabbit-hole only to find himself looking out of a pair of eyes that just happen to be in the head of legendary Hollywood star John Malkovich. After fifteen minutes he is turfed out of his new home onto the verge of the nearby highway. Of course “Maxine” initially thinks he’s bonkers when he tells her - and then reckons it could make for quite a lucrative tourist attraction. The equally sceptical “Lotte” is game for a trip by herself and that is just the start of multiple escapades inside the head of the unwitting actor that do actually appear to be able to influence his behaviour - and not necessarily for the better! It takes a while for us to get to the sharp end, but once the scene is set the writing and the acting combine really well to take us on some adventures into the absurd and the incomprehensible. Imagine those imaginary pesky devils on your shoulders now inhabiting your head. Your actions are your own but you don’t own them. You witness yourself changing before your very eyes but can’t explain. Add to that plenty of mischief, a rather unsavoury prospect with an omelette and as we might have expected, the domestic elements go completely off the New Jersey turnpike too as “Lotte” and “Maxine” realise that they can use their new host for an altogether unexpected side-benefit. The comedy is often the sort that makes you squirm with a combination of nervous anticipation and more predictable slapstick. It’s a tight cast with one effortlessly bouncing off the other and with the enjoyably seedy contribution of Orson Bean as the sex-obsessed “Lester” this builds to an denouement that is as incomplete as it is off-the-wall. It doesn’t always work all of the time, but it’s innovative and rattles along entertainingly and thoughtfully for almost two hours of very bumpy self-discovery.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Propaganda Films

  US

• SI

  Single Cell Pictures

  US

• 

  Gramercy Pictures

  US

Key crew

• Executive ProducerMichael Kuhn
• Production DesignK.K. Barrett
• Set DecorationGene Serdena
• Special EffectsJason Barnett
• Costume DesignCasey Storm
• Special EffectsJohn E. Gray
• CastingJustine Arteta
• Supervising Sound Effects EditorRichard L. Anderson
• ProducerSandy Stern
• ProducerMichael Stipe
• Sound EngineerJoseph A. Brennan
• ProducerVincent Landay
• Executive ProducerCharlie Kaufman
• ProducerSteve Golin
• Special EffectsRyan Arndt
• EditorEric Zumbrunnen
• Art DirectionPeter Andrus
• Stunt DoubleAlexa Sheehan
• Stunt CoordinatorDan Bradley
• StuntsEric Chambers
• CastingKim Davis-Wagner
• Special EffectsJohn Ziegler
• Sound Re-Recording MixerGary Gegan
• Sound DesignerRen Klyce

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• witch
• sexual identity
• individual
• secret love
• transvestism
• identity
• subconsciousness
• new identity
• pet
• chimpanzee
• puppeteer
• appropriation of another human being
• externally controlled action
• pet shop
• shocking

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere1999-10-01R· New York Film Festival
• Theatrical (limited)1999-10-29R
• Theatrical1999-12-03R
• Physical2000-05-02R

Also known as

International titles

• Dans la peau de John MalkovitchFR
• 傀儡人生CN
• 变脑CN
• 玩谢麦高维治CN
• 존 말코비치 되기KR
• Cómo ser John MalkovicES
• ¿Quieres ser John Malkovich?AR
• Quero Ser John MalkovichBR
• Да бъдеш Джон МалковичBG
• Biti John MalkovichHR
• V kůži Johna MalkovicheCZ
• Olles John MalkovichEE
• Elämäni John MalkovichinaFI
• Στο μυαλό του Τζον ΜάλκοβιτςGR
• 玩謝麥高維冶HK