Being John Malkovich (D-VHS) (1999)

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Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is an impoverished New York puppeteer who longs to put himself "inside someone else's skin." He is married to devoted, distracted Lotte (Cameron Diaz), a pet store employee whose kind heart has filled their cramped apartment with a variety of ailing exotic animals. In an attempt to make ends meet, Craig takes a filing clerk's position at the nondescript LesterCorp, located on the seven-and-a-half floor of a Manhattan building. This is where he happens to stumble across a tiny door hidden behind a filing cabinet-a slimy little passage leading directly into the head of John Malkovich. For a brief period of time--which invariably ends with him being inexplicably dumped out somewhere on the New Jersey Turnpike--Craig has found a way to literally be in someone else's skin. Filled with unexpected twists, wicked paradoxes and even a cameo by Charlie Sheen, Being John Malkovich is a modern-day masterpiece to be experienced again and again.
 


Editor's Note

Original is far too understated a term to describe this picture, brought to you by the surreal, twisted minds of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and actor-director Jonze. The story concerns a puppeteer, Craig Schwartz (John Cusack), who discovers his office has a secret portal that leads directly into the brain of one of America's most popular actors, John Malkovich (Malkovich himself, in a hilariously self-mocking appearance). When the journey ends fifteen minutes later, the participant is spewed onto the side of the New Jersey Turnpike. Schwartz uses his discovery as a way to get closer to fellow co-worker Maxine (the always sexy Catherine Keener). Together, the pair form JM, INC., which allows ordinary citizens to join in on the fun for $200 a pop. But when Craig's wife Lotte (a homely Cameron Diaz), as Malkovich, is seduced by Maxine, things begin to unfurl at an even more outrageous pace. Sound confusing? Thanks to Spike Jonze's grounded direction, it isn't. The result is one of the decade's most original films.