Poster © USA Films. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreComedy, Drama & Fantasy
RatedR
Runtime1 hr 53 mins
ReleasedOctober 29, 1999
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorSpike Jonze
StarringJohn Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener
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Being John Malkovich (1999)
| ▶Stream It | ★The Numbers |
| 🎫Get Tickets | ✎Edit History |
| iIMDb Profile | %Rotten Tomatoes |
| WWikipedia | LLetterboxd |
| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| Being John Malkovich's Details | |
| Genre | Comedy, Drama & Fantasy |
| Rated | R |
| Released | 09/02/1999 (Venice); 10/29/1999 (United States) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 1 hr 53 mins |
| Budget | $13M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Being John Malkovich's Interests | |
| General | Floor seven and a half, low ceilings, marionettes, filing cabinets, the New Jersey Turnpike. |
| Music | Carter Burwell, keeping things quietly strange. |
| Movies | Adaptation. (2002). Same director and writer, even more Charlie Kaufman. |
| Television | Severance. Another office floor where your mind isn't quite your own. |
| Heroes | Elijah the chimp. Lotte's pet, and the most emotionally complex one in the apartment. |
| Being John Malkovich's Crew | |
| Director | Spike Jonze |
| Writers | Charlie Kaufman |
| Producers | Michael Stipe, Sandy Stern, Steve Golin, Vincent Landay |
| Cinematography | Lance Acord |
| Music | Carter Burwell |
| Edited By | Eric Zumbrunnen |
| Production | Gramercy Pictures, Propaganda Films, Single Cell Pictures |
| Distributed By | USA Films (United States), Universal Pictures International (International) |
The scariest thing in Being John Malkovich isn’t the tiny door. It’s that Craig Schwartz is the hero, and he’s one of the most selfish weirdos ever to carry a movie. The last act also stacks up rules about who can ride along inside whom and for how long, and the mythology gets cluttered. Everything else is a miracle of strange. Spike Jonze shoots it all with a straight face, so the stooped office workers and the puppet shows feel completely normal, which makes them funnier. John Malkovich is incredibly game, and the moment he finds out what’s going on is pure nightmare comedy. Catherine Keener’s Maxine is ice cold and magnetic. Cameron Diaz gives the warmest performance in the movie as Lotte, a pet lover who finds herself in the strangest way possible. Critics gave it 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. A 9.0 because nobody has topped this idea, including the movie’s own last act. $809 says you peek behind a filing cabinet at work this week, just to be sure.
What works: The idea is wildly original, and John Malkovich, Catherine Keener and Cameron Diaz all commit to the strangeness completely.
What doesn’t: Craig is a hard hero to spend time with, and the last act’s body-hopping rules get cluttered.
Who it’s for: People who like comedies that are weird all the way down and want something they’ve truly never seen.
Spoilers
Dr. Lester and his elderly friends have been planning to move into Malkovich for good, and they finally take over his body to live on through him. Craig misses his chance and ends up stuck inside Maxine’s young daughter, watching her life with no way to steer, while Lotte and Maxine end up together.
Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is a talented puppeteer who can't get paid for it, and his wife Lotte (Cameron Diaz) fills their apartment with animals. Craig takes a filing job on floor seven and a half of a Manhattan office building, where the ceilings are so low everyone stoops and the boss, Dr. Lester (Orson Bean), is a bit odd. Craig falls for coworker Maxine Lund (Catherine Keener), who isn't interested. Then, behind a filing cabinet, he finds a tiny door leading into the head of actor John Malkovich, playing himself, for fifteen minutes. Spike Jonze directs. One hundred thirteen minutes, exit via the New Jersey Turnpike.
Anyone who has ever wanted to be someone else for fifteen minutes. Take a number.
| John Cusack | Craig Schwartz |
| Cameron Diaz | Lotte Schwartz |
| Catherine Keener | Maxine Lund |
| John Malkovich | John Horatio Malkovich |
| Ned Bellamy | Derek Mantini |
| Orson Bean | Dr. Lester |
| Mary Kay Place | Floris |
| Charlie Sheen | himself |
| W. Earl Brown | First J.M. Inc. Customer |
| Carlos Jacott | Larry the Agent |
| Byrne Piven | Captain James Mertin |
| Octavia L. Spencer | Woman in Elevator |
| James Murray | Student Puppeteer |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 18 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 7.7 / 10 (371,978 votes) → 7.7 / 10 (371,992 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +400 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $23.1M; Domestic box office $22.9M; Opening weekend $638K; Profit / loss (est.) -$7.9M; Rotten Tomatoes 94%; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 94% (133 reviews); Metacritic 90 / 100; IMDb users 7.7 / 10 (371,978 votes); movie.guru score 9.4.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.