Where to start....where to start.....Well, I don't think it was terrible, but I just didn't really like it. What aspect of it do you really love?
The movie developed leisurely & unpredictably, & I didn't feel victimized by obvious plot devices like Famous Writer's Trick #12.
I liked the characters....they were all interesting, even the ones not entirely likable. The comedy of the absurd plot basis didn't bleed into other areas.
When Craig inhabited John, doing the puppet shows it actually seemed a believable & interesting story all by itself. The whole movie grew in scope until the end.
Yeah, the theft of someone else's mind was troublesome for me too. Aren't so many great movies based upon some evil....The Usual Suspects,For me, the problem is not the weirdness, but the characters.
-Cusack's character was cruel to Malkovich and his wife. He was willing to cheat on his wife for a hot co-worker, was willing to steal someone's body for his own personal use, and was willing to kidnap and keep his wife bound and gagged in a cage.
-Diaz's character wasn't as bad as her husband, but she was still willing to steal Malkovich's body for her own personal use.
-Keener's character was willing to facilitate for money the stealing of Malkovich's body, and willing to have an affair with Cusack's character.
-Malkovich wasn't evil like the others, but not particularly likable.
Basically at the very least, everyone was really selfish, and at worst, some of them were downright evil. For me to like a story, I need to like at least some of the characters, or at least find certain aspects of them likable.
The Godfather, Fargo, A Clockwork Orange, LA Confidential, The Unforgiven, etc? But I've seen movies where I couldn't stomach the characters too.
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