Why does this have such a low rating

I just entered a comment. If you're a Kubrick fan with a little sens of humour, you'll love this very intelligent film, that isn't only a comedy about a con.

I have been desperately searching for this film for three years and I can't find it yet. Please, whoever has watched it might tell me all the detailes? I have read so many French bad reviews which said it contained so many homosexual scenes and coarse references,is that true?

I mean...it wasn't really that clever or good or anything really...

For starters I couldn't believe they used that corny old joke in the mental hospital "do you know who I am?" "No, I don't, but if you ask the nurse, she might be able to tell you", I mean dear God...you can't be serious...

Anyway these are the problems with the movie:

1. Malkovich went kinda overboard. I mean I somewhat enjoyed his performance, but you know a bit indulgent at times, bordering on silly.

2. Filling the rest of the roles with poor performances. Maybe with the exception of Lynda Barron, Peter Bowls and the Reporter guy (whatever his name was) everyone's performance in this film was pretty poor, even amateurish. Some of it was laughable.

3. Why is it that everyone in this film who was gay was so Campy?? I couldn't understand that at all. Anyone playing a gay character in this film was just so way over the top, and feminine, it was like a Carry On Film...I appreciate the fact that there was some over-the-top acting in A Clockwork Orange, but in that film, it was spread across different types of characters and used in specific situations, and it worked, not in this film though.

4. The film didn't really understand what it was trying to do or say. We knew Malkovich wasn't Kubrick. We know he's going to rip people off, so what does he do? Go round and round in almost meaningless situations getting out of people not an awful lot...motivation? Character? well we don't really see a lot of that.

I feel that this film was a rather poor attempt to make a Kubrick film with none of the real understanding about what it is to make a film. It's not easy to just copy another artists work and expect the same results. The scene in the restaurant with Marisa Berenson even highlighted the poor editing in the film.

I went to see this movie in France in a cinema on the Champs Elysee. The French audience sat in stony silence while my girlfriend and I laughed our heads off throughout. It's one of those films you either get or not. I think the fact that we are both very into cinema helped. The point is that Kubrik was the ultimate film director and at the same time a recluse. Few people knew what he looked like and he had the power to fulfill the dreams of almost everyone - because almost everyone has some kind of dream connected with the glamorous world of cinema. Conway spotted an opportunity to exploit people by posing as Kubrik and encouraging them to believe that he might be able to wave a magic wand and fulfill their showbiz ambitions.

The humour lies in the different ways in which people make utter fools of themselves by laying their dreams before 'Kubrik' and John Malkovich''s flamboyant interpretation of Conway - who didn't even bother to learn which films Kubrik had made. Malkovich takes this idea of a 'lazy' con artist and has him alter his accent according to his mood and the person he is talking to - half-heartedly custom building the con for each mark. It's a film about how gullible and absurd we become when we think we see an easy chance to fulfill our ultimate dreams. Rather than create a tedious docudrama about the real Conway the film makers have picked up the ball and run with it - teasing out a minor comic masterpiece from the thin material of the shoddy life of Allan Conway. To enjoy it you need to understand who Stanley Kubrik was and what he meant to anyone with ambitions to be involved in the film business. You also need to have a taste for the over-the-top, the camp, the life 'as a slow-motion train crash'.
The film pushes its own boundaries relentlessly demonstrating a courageous and generous impulse to chase the entertainment potential in the premise.

While I loved it I could also see it would not be to everyone's taste - and I don't just mean the French...




You will be fighting at close quarters with the most tenacious of all sea beasts.

Probably because only REAL hardcore Kubrick fans can appreciate all the inside jokes. Starting with the excellent use of music from numerous Kubrick films, and cinematographic homages to Clockwork Orange, The Shining, 2001, and Barry Lyndon. If one hasn't seen these films numerous time a lot of this would slide right by unnoticed. Lots of fun for Kubrick devotees--probably incomprehensible for everyone else. My husband and I, who adore Kubrick, loved this little gem. A VERY pleasant and funny surprise for two viewers who usually detest John Malkovich. Highly recommended to Kubrick lovers--others would do well too pass--they just won't get it!

[deleted]

Saw it.

Huge Kubrick fan. Malkovich fan too.

That being said, this movie did nothing for me. I actually didn't even finish it. I am always quick to bash people for negatively commenting on movies they don't finish. But I honestly couldn't take any more.

I was really pumped about watching it too. Big disappointment imo. I rented two pretty bad movies last weekend. This movie and "Firstborn" with Elizabeth Shue. I would definitely recommend Firstborn over this movie and it wasn't that good either.

I gave it 4 of 10. That was extremely generous.

I'm a huge Kubrick fan and thought this movie fell flat, big time.