Not bad, but I wish Gary Busey had been available: "Being John Malkovich"

Who are we kidding? Busey was available. Just too freaking nuts.

I'm pretty sure I saw this very funny movie in the theater back in 1999, and I probably saw it on DVD or cable not long after that. But it definitely had been several years, and I got into a Malkovich mood when it strolled across my cable system -- IFC, I think -- a couple of weeks ago.

You know the story: A down-on-his-luck puppeteer (John Cusack) takes a thankless filing job on the 7 1/2th floor of a building. While crouching under the low ceilings, he discovers a doorway that leads into the mind of John Malkovich, "one of the great American actors of the 20th century." He tells the office chick that he's hot for (Catherine "Frosty, Much?" Keener), and she gets him to charge people to be Malkovich.

Meanwhile, Puppet Boy's wife (Cameron "I Can Do Fugly" Diaz) realizes after being Malkovich that she's hot for the Ice Queen as well. But wait! Mr. Marionette decides to take Malkovich -- and by extension, Her Bitterness -- for himself. (Never mind what Malkovich wants.) Where, oh where, does this treacherous road lead?

Straight to comedy heaven, baby. It's hard to imagine in this Will-Ferrell-yelling, Jack-Black-in-his-underwear era, but there's such a thing as high-concept comedy that's hilarious without throwing a bunch of slapstick at you. "Malkovich" is sly from the start -- "Nobody's looking for a puppeteer in today's wintry economic climate," Cusack says, then scans the want-ads for puppeteer jobs -- and gets weird but just as funny when Malkovich himself becomes involved.

And don't get me started on the supporting players, most notably Orson Bean as Cusack's boss -- nearly everything he utters is gold -- and Charlie Sheen playing himself as Malkovich's buddy. (Ma-Sheen! Malkatraz!) I'd dangle some more quotes here, but they really don't work out of context. That's how well the movie flows, with each quirky character and development leading to the next. But of course you get spit out at the side of the New Jersey Turnpike after 15 minutes looking through Malkovich's eyes! Why not?

Credit writer Charlie Kaufman and director Spike Jonze for pulling this off. True, each actor nails his or her role -- so much in Keener's case that I still don't quite like her today. But the story ... wow. I mean, who comes up with this? And how did they get Malkovich to go along? I thought he was busy making a sequel to that movie. You know, the one where he plays a jewel thief.