True West

Gary Sinise and John Malkovich were, as always, incredible. This movie was phenomenal. Leave it to the dudes of Steppenwolf to create such a masterpiece, a film based on a play (which was directed by Sinise on Broadway) that, however unchanged, was portrayed on film beautifully.

I remember when our English teacher made us watch this and I wasn't sure what to expect. He warned us that it was theater of the absurd. I loved it. Gary Sinise and John Malkovich are really good in this. It is extremely funny and smartly directed by Sinise. Malkovich though standouts and he plays Lee with command. They are both in top form.

This film is a great example of how entertaining a movie can be relying on acting alone. Both Sinise & Malkovich take their roles to the limit in physicality & emotion, not to mention some excellent comic timing. I thought Malkovich was very funny and parts of his highly physical performance reminded me of Jim Carrey or Chris Farley (only in a more dramatic sense) - this movie being released in 1983. The technical quality doesn't look much better than a current high-end camcorder, but the acting makes you forget this within a few minutes.

I first saw this in college. I read the play first and was very entranced by it. Shepard's writing is hypnotic. This is actually one of his most naturalistic plays.

I was very curious to see what the film would be like and, needless to say, I was completely floored. Sinise and (especially) Malkovich are INCREDIBLE. You will not see acting like this in another movie or TV show, I promise. It is totally out on a limb - hilarious and frequently scary.

In one scene Malkovich is desperately looking for a pencil and can't find one and he (literally) rips a kitchen apart looking. The whole thing is unhinged to the max.

There are parts that will make you burst out laughing and others that are genuinely frightening. It's very hypnotic. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

highly recommended

What more can you say about the performances that launched two great careers- Malkovich and Sinise. The quality of the filming is poor, but that is to be expected when trying to translate the live experience to film. It feels very TV studio. But this still doesn't detract from two very visceral performances that should be studied by every actor.