Being John Malkovich Spike Jonze

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 94% based on 136 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Smart, funny, and highly original, Being John Malkovich supports its wild premise with skillful direction and a stellar ensemble cast."[46] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 90 out of 100 based on 36 critics reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[47] Malkovich's performance in Being John Malkovich is ranked number 90 on Premiere's "100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time".[48]

The film ranked 441st on Empire magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest films of all time.[49] In his review, Roger Ebert awarded the film a full four stars; he later named it the best film of 1999.[50] 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."[51] Peter Rainer, writing for New York, commented that "dazzlingly singular movies aren't often this much fun" in his review,[52] and Owen Gleiberman, writing for Entertainment Weekly, called it "the most excitingly original movie of the year."[53]

Accolades