Bill Wittman Movies

Would you pay money to journey into the mind of the star of Con Air, The Killing Fields, and In The Line of Fire? Puppeteer Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is having money problems, so he takes a temporary job as a file clerk on the seventh-and-a-half floor of a large office building. One day, while rummaging behind a cabinet, he finds a small door that leads to the center of the mind of actor John Malkovich (played by, you guessed it, John Malkovich). Craig discovers that entering the portal allows him to become John Malkovich for a brief spell, and in time he and his beautiful but aloof co-worker Maxine (Catherine Keener) get the bright idea to charge admission for the privilege of spending 15 minutes inside the head of a well-known actor. Malkovich realizes that something strange is happening to him, but can do little to stop it, as strangers take over his mind for a quarter-hour at a time. Craig's wife, Lotte (Cameron Diaz), eventually takes a trip into Malkovich's psyche, and she soon finds herself in love with Maxine, with whom Malkovich has an affair; meanwhile, Maxine in time becomes infatuated with both Craig and Lotte, but only when they're inside Malkovich. Being John Malkovich marked the feature-length debut of director Spike Jonze, who previously made acclaimed music videos for Weezer, the Beastie Boys, and the Breeders, among others. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

John Candy plays Jack Gable, a soap-opera writer who finds himself trapped inside his own television program with a magic typewriter in this toothless comedy. Jack finds himself embroiled in protecting his beloved Laura (Emma Samms), an actress who plays Rachel Hedison in Jack's show -- "Beyond Our Dreams" -- from having her character being killed off by the program's producers, the Sherwoods (Jerry Orbach, Renee Taylor). Laura has recently broken off with her co-star and lover Dennis (David Rasche) and is heading off for a weekend with Jack. As Jack unloads Laura's luggage, he conks himself on the head and knocks himself out. He awakens in a town bearing a name similar to the town in his soap opera. Dennis is on hand, but as his character in the show -- Dr. Paul Kirkland. Jack realizes that he has found himself in an alternative world made up of his soap opera world -- particularly apparent when he is recognized as Jack Gates, "the Wolf of Wall Street." Jack then meets Laura, who, in this soap opera world, is actually Janet Dubois, the daughter of a late biochemist who invented a pill that allows anyone to eat whatever they want and not gain any weight. The unscrupulous Hedison family (Raymond Burr, Charles Rocket, Dylan Baker) want to steal the formula for the pill and make a fortune for their pharmaceutical company. Jack then discovers that he can exit and re-enter the show at will and can alter the narrative of the show however he wants by typing up new plot points on his typewriter. In order to save Laura's character from the Sherwoods, Jack re-writes the show to save Janet by having his own character come to her rescue at the last minute. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The mysterious 1971 hijacking of an airliner by a bold thief who parachuted into legend over the Pacific Northwest became fodder for this action comedy that's mostly speculative. Treat Williams stars as Jim Meade, an ambitious former Army man who devises a clever scheme to hold up an airliner for $200,000. Masquerading as "D.B. Cooper," he succeeds, and after landing safely in the deep woods, he seeks out his wife Hannah (Kathryn Harrold), whom he had left months earlier. They reconcile and head for the Mexican border. However, Jim soon has two people hot on his trail. Bob Gruen (Robert Duvall) was Jim's sergeant in the armed forces. Now an insurance investigator, Bob becomes convinced that only his talented former underling could have pulled off the job and sets out to capture him. At the same time, Jim's seedy former Army pal Remson (Paul Gleason) comes to the same conclusion and pursues the Meades, hoping to get a cut of the loot. Based on the book by J.D. Reed, the film failed to ignite interest at the box office, despite a publicity stunt by Universal Pictures offering a million dollars for information leading to the arrest of the real Cooper. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide