BY this point, “being john malkovich” is considered one of the masterpieces of the indie-film movement. but when word started to filter down, 10 years ago, about this project by skateboard/ rock video auteur and the then-unknown screenwriter charlie kaufman, it was hard to imagine this working. a film about living inside a celebrity’s brain, directed by a kooky guy who had never made a film longer than the beastie boys’ “sabotage” video?
jonze — by now also celebrated for “adaptation” — is of course on our minds again because of his much-awaited adaptation of “where the wild things are.”
a decade ago, writing for the paper New Times LA, i was intrigued by the buzz around “malkovich,” and the screening made clear that this was a boldly original film. originally, i was going to meet jonze at a bar for an interview. then, at his LA apartment, which i imagined as full of skateboards. and then, i found out i had to go to new york, for the film’s junket, where i would finally get a one-one-one interview.
so i flew to new york. when i got there, i was told that he insisted on having cameron diaz and catherine keener in the room with him. of course, i did not mind the company of these lovely babes (diaz seemed to have gone undercover as an english major for a liberal arts college; when she greeted me like an old friend i thought she might be a wesleyan classmate assisting on the film.) but having two stunning actresses in the room made it hard for both jonze and i to concentrate. it just got weirder from there.
in any case, here is the cover story i wrote for now-defunct new times, which is reprinted here in sister paper SF Weekly.
i welcome discussion of the new film, which opens friday, on this site.
Cool article. Looking forward to seeing Where The Wild Things Are, which was one of my favorite books as a child, and one my own children enjoyed very much. It seems like the perfect vehicle for Jonze.