BJM verus Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

At times, Being john Malkovich (what a strange title) felt like a warm up for the themes that Kaufman would later more fully explore on Eternal Sunshine.

BJM is stylistically similar, but is much darker and much more warped and mean spirited than the latter film. As other posters have noted, it seems to be a morality play that is played as a joke on the audience (perhaps because we initially sympathize with Craig, but he transforms into the villain of the piece).

With Eternal Sunshine, I thought that the softer romance aspect of the story was more faithfully executed than the harsh tragedy of Malkovich, which was more of a satire of celebrity and longing for change in identity. Eternal Sunshine's sci-fi aspect was integrated into the story in a more believable fashion, and didn't just feel like a gimmick.

I also thought that Michael Gondry was a much better choice of director to interpret Kaufman's script. While Spike Jonze is imaginative and creative, he lacks that distinct European, post-New Wave touch and element of class that Gondry brought to the direction. I thought the dream sequences and exploration of the subconcsious were better executed in ESoSm, as the part where Katherine Keener chases Cameron Diaz through Malkovich's mind wasn't as impressive as the mind being erased in Jim Carrey's head.

Also, the casting for Eternal Sunshine was better, but maybe that's dependent on the characters and nature of the story, which I personally prefer.

In case you can't tell, I thought Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was the better film of the two Kaufman penned works. I have not yet seen Adaptation or Synecdoche New York.

Limit of the Willing Suspension of Disbelief: directly proportional to its awesomeness.