John John

I recently watched Being John Malkovich.  I hadn't seen it in years.  It still holds up.  A very clever script by Charlie Kaufman, with constant invention. (I've read the original screenplay, with a very different ending that has Satan taking over the world--I don't know who asked for the new ending, but it works just fine.)

But this time around what I noticed is the excellent work of John Malkovich himself.  What you usually notice are leads John Cusack, Cameron Diaz and Catherine Keener.  They're all fine in very theatrical roles.  Cusack is whiny and pathetic, Cameron uglies herself up, and Keener plays the sexy, smart-mouthed character who pulls everyone's strings. (Keener says she didn't like the character, but she's great, and got the film's only acting nomination.)

But Malkovich has the trickiest role.  He's playing himself.  Allegedly.  I don't know what the real John Malkovich is like, but Malkovich plays the part as a plain, even boring, sort of guy.  In the early scenes you feel you're getting a glimpse of someone, not an actor playing a character.

Then, when he is taken over, particularly by puppeteer Cusack, you forget it's Malkovich--you feel the spirit of Cusack's character, the giddiness, the disbelief, without thinking hey, that's actually John Malkovich acting in a very un-Malkovichlike manner.  Would have been nice to see him getting an Oscar nod as well, but perhaps the Academy just thought he was playing himself.