Our Favorite Movies With An Absurd Premise
In which we enter the mind of John Malkovich and find a flatulent corpse on a deserted island
If you’re willing to go along for the ride, there can be nothing more fun than a movie with a truly absurd premise. In theaters this weekend is Cocaine Bear, which is about exactly what you think it’s about: a black bear ingests a duffel bag full of cocaine and goes on a rampage. It sure seems like everyone involved is committed to the absurdity of the bit, which tends to result in a good time at the movies, at the very least.
So, in recognition of Cocaine Bear, we are recommending a couple of our favorite movies with a ridiculous premise this week. Get ready to suspend that disbelief and revel in the absurd and insane with us.
Drew recommends…
Being John Malkovich
Writer and director Charlie Kaufman is now recognized as a master of the absurd and bizarre, but back in the late 1990s he was just a writer with no film credits to his name passing around his deeply strange spec script. Unsurprisingly, no one wanted to make it into a movie until Spike Jonze, an in-demand music video director who had never directed a movie, got his hands on it and found the right producers. The premise was your run-of-the-mill comedy-drama: a sad sack puppeteer (John Cusack) finds a portal in an office building that leads directly into the mind of actor John Malkovich.
It’s both amazing that a) Being John Malkovich ever got made, and b) it ended up being so good, considering it’s a first-time writer and first-time director making such an out-there idea into a real movie. Kaufman and Jonze convinced Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, and, of course, Malkovich himself to star. Bolstered by the wildly unique and original story, all four actors are giving tremendously bold performances. This is a film that plays with ideas about identity, gender, and desire in a way that not many 90s films were matching.
However, the absurdity of the conceit doesn’t erase the heart and soul of Being John Malkovich. It’s a very funny and unpredictable film (after all, this is a movie where characters spend 15 minutes in the mind of John Malkovich before getting spit out on the New Jersey Turnpike), but it never leaves its characters behind despite all the twists and turns. We are painfully aware of their dreams and aspirations, as well as their need to be seen and loved. Amid this ridiculous and often hilarious story, there is a melancholic and sneakily emotional core that gives Being John Malkovich true staying power.
Available to rent on digital platforms
Billy recommends…
Swiss Army Man
Our soon-to-be Oscar-winning directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (The Daniels) for Everything Everywhere All At Once started off with a much simpler movie and an even stranger premise. Swiss Army Man stars Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe. In our opening scene, Dano is a man stranded on an island trying to end it all as there is no hope that anyone will be able to find him. After an embarrassingly feeble attempt in killing himself he notices a seemingly dead body washed up on shore that is farting extremely loud. Out of extreme curiosity Dano reluctantly walks over, lassos himself to Radcliffe, and rides the dead body like a jet ski to safety that is being propelled by powerful farts. Cinema, baby.
This dead body is not a Swiss Army Knife, but a Swiss Army Man. Divinely creating all of the resources needed for Dano to get home and to safety. Daniel Radcliffe gives the best performance of his career as this dead body. None of his memories or motor functions of his previous life have come back, but the curiosity remains. Sending him on a child-like journey of finding the true meaning of what it means to be alive. And helping Dano remember those things as well.
The “tricks” that this body has to help Dano back to safety somehow only get weirder after the opening farting jet ski scene. If you can embrace the absurd gags of this movie I think you will think the movie works because of the pure commitment of everyone involved. None of the actors are winking to camera and the sincerity shines through despite all of the silliness. The Daniels' absolute sincerity in the midst of absurdity has remained their strength during their first two directorial efforts. A quality that I hope remains. We need less cynics in Hollywood and they are creating a lane that has been needed for a while.
Streaming on HBO Max