Color Me Kubrick is a story of the desire to be famous and a tongue-in-cheek satire of society's obsession with celebrity.

The story is told via John Malkovich via Alan Conway via Stanley Kubrick. Alan Conway was a lifelong con-man with any number of personalities who garnered some fame during the shooting of Kubrick's final film, Eyes Wide Shut, for impersonating the director in order to swindle hapless dolts hoping to become famous.

Kubrick, who was known for being a recluse and giving very few interviews or even public photos, was a perfect target for Conway. And in reality, Conway's target wasn't Kubrick at all but the people who were shocked to be in the presence of the legendary director. Conway had never actually seen any of Kubrick's films nor did he know anything about Kubrick at all. He would start conversations, and then clumsily and with no context in the conversation, mention that he was Stanley Kubrick, offer work on one of his films, then take the person for all they were worth, whether it be free drinks, chunks of money, or some good old-fashioned butt sex.

The interesting thing about Conway is that he rarely swindled anyone out of substantial amounts of actual cash. More often, he would simply get people to buy him little things to sustain his lifestyle. It was more the idea of being famous, of having people paw over himself that Conway was interested in.

While these scams were practiced mainly on the dim-witted Londoners in Conway's circle, the real director himself had his image hurt when Conway's hoaxing gained notoriety. Far removed from the real Kubrick, Conway's taste for young men confused many people about the real Kubrick's sexuality. While Conway was merely in it for small gains, his victims were usually seriously hurt or in some cases ruined. More than anything, it was their egos and reputation that took the hardest blow. When Kubrick and the police attempted to criminally charge Conway, no one who had been duped by him was willing to testify out of sheer embarrassment.

If you have heard anything about this film at all, it probably has something to do with John Malkovich's performance. Indeed, it is a staggering work. There were some liberties taken with the Conway character, including his dress and demeanor, but Malkovich certainly did his homework. While watching tapes and interviews of the impostor, Malkovich says he was surprised by Conway's lack of acting ability and how he would confuse accents during the same conversation. Malkovich is certainly a far superior actor than Conway ever was. Lucky for Conway, most people were just in awe to be around "Stanley Kubrick" and didn't dare to call him out.