Reception
The film received nearly universal acclaim from critics with a 92% "Certified fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes and ranked 441st on Empire magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest films of all time. The film was widely praised for its originality, both in terms of the script, which won Kaufman the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay, and Jonze's direction.
Critic Roger Ebert's review was four out of four stars; at the end of the year, he named it the best film of 1999. His comments of praise included: "Rare is the movie where the last half hour surprises you just as much as the first, and in ways you're not expecting. The movie has ideas enough for half a dozen films, but Jonze and his cast handle them so surely that we never feel hard-pressed; we're enchanted by one development after the next" and he also felt that "Either Being John Malkovich gets nominated for best picture, or the members of the Academy need portals into their brains." Other top critic Peter Rainer commented "Dazzlingly singular movies aren't often this much fun" in his review, and Owen Gleiberman boldly stated that he felt it was "The most excitingly original movie of the year."
John Malkovich's performance as himself in Being John Malkovich is ranked No. 90 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
- American Film Institute Lists
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) - Nominated
- AFI's 10 Top 10 - Nominated Fantasy Film
Read more about this topic: Being John Malkovich
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