Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) User Reviews

Clooney Plays a Weird Story Straight Up

[gbheron · 7/10 · 4 March 2004]

What if the creator and host of two of the 1970s biggest and lamest television game shows was also a part-time CIA hitman? That he used The Dating Game and The Gong Show as a cover to stage assassinations in the netherworld of Cold War espionage. Ridiculous you'd say. But that's what exactly what Chuck Barris claims in his autobiography, and Charlie Kaufman accepts carte blanche as the premise for his screenplay. The film plays it straight up as if Barris were telling the truth.

Can Charlie Kaufman, the screenwriter, and George Clooney, the director pull it off? Mostly. It is competently acted by Sam Rockwell as Barris, Julia Roberts as a fellow spy, Drew Barrymore as his love interest, and director George Clooney as his CIA recruiter and handler. The bizarre landscape, a marriage of television and espionage, is presented without a smirk or wink. If Barris is telling the truth, this is what it must have been like. It's an interesting idea, and Clooney and Kaufman have taken it and crafted an enjoyable film.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind: Deftly Avoiding the Gong

[sixtwentysix · 8/10 · 1 April 2005]

While quite very obviously a well crafted lie sold as truth this movie does not fail to entertain and was one of the more underrated films of the year of it's release. A commercial failure the film was re-released later based on word of mouth buzz. This film appeals to a fringe audience that remains just out of reach of mainstream films. What do you expect from a screenplay written by Charlie Kaufmann? This film is a telling of the story of Chuck Barris, creator of various TV shows and all around uncomfortable guy. Barris holds many stations in life, TV producer, songwriter and CIA assassin. The meat of this story is not so much in his occupations but the mental condition and back story of Barris throughout the film. With something lurking just below the surface of an ambiguous nature you aren't certain if you should root for Barris or despise him.

Through various twists and turns you follow what is one half mockumentary and one half spy thriller the film plays it very loose and fast and it let's your mind run wild and free without the burden of tension that a spy thriller would give. Definitely worth a watch if you enjoy strong acting performances mixed with offbeat plots.

Clooney takes what is basically a poor mans "THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE" and makes a very entertaining and watchable film with great acting and stylish but reigned in technique. Finally a someone takes the theory of taking a bad idea and making a fine film and makes good.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind: 8/10

[movieguy1021 · 8/10 · 26 January 2003]

George Clooney's directorial debut is a compelling dramatic biopic about `Gong Show' host Chuck Barris, who claims to be a hit man for the CIA. Barris started out small, but decided to go for the big time and move to New York, where he got a job at NBC. Soon he becomes a manager type person, and creates an idea for a game show called `The Dating Game'. It becomes a hit, but he feels unfulfilled, even though he has Penny (Drew Barrymore). Also, Jim Byrd (Clooney) from the CIA recruits Barris to kill for the CIA. As we watch the movie, we don't know which is true and which is a figment of his imagination. Think of it as an R-rated Beautiful Mind.

Barris is played with great intensity by Sam Rockwell. Clooney took a risk of planting a not-well-known name as the lead. With such star power behind him like Clooney, Barrymore, and Julia Roberts, he stands out. Rockwell has starred in such movies before like Heist and The Green Mile, all three times with great acting. He brings out the inner demons of Barris. Rockwell was exceptional, and exceptionally believable. Even though he was billed fourth, he has his name out now and we can expect him in larger things.

Many scenes were standout, with their camera angles and unique way of playing it. At times it seemed like a play, with a wall disappearing, for instance. However, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind wasn't as funny as I was hoping. Sure, some scenes were quite funny (like the scenes in the beginning where it was a montage of the f-word). It had an authentic feel to the 60's (including the soundtrack), like Catch Me If You Can did. At times, it had a documentary style to it, which would have been more effective if they had more substance behind it, such as more of the interviews or none at all. Many of the camera shots were close-ups, which looked quite cool. I am a game show aficionado, so I thought that most of the time would be spent on Barris going onto the CIA, but it was evenly divided between the two, so I was happy.

At times, the mood was light-hearted, almost satirical, but at other points it was serious drama that poked at your emotions. As I said before, Rockwell is definitely lead material. Clooney did a good job portraying the CIA recruiter, and Barrymore is the other standout as Barris' girlfriend. She and Rockwell, besides good chemistry, both displayed true emotions. Roberts, as another CIA agent, put in her usual mediocre performance, though she was better than normal. However, many characters have no substance behind them, namely Roberts, who was billed third and had about three scenes (which, I guess, is better than Jennifer Aniston in Office Space).

Possible the only downpoint of the movie was that at times, it got too trippy for its own good. Even Barris didn't know what was real and what wasn't. It got a little too muddled in plot, such as who is who, at times. When Barris sees everyone who he killed, that was just…weird. Anyway, I would highly recommend Confessions of a Dangerous Mind to about anyone.

My rating: 8/10

Rated R for language, sexual content and violence.

Fact Stranger Than Fiction

[Buddy-51 · 24 January 2003]

We all remember Chuck Barris as the creator of some of television's most successful - albeit notoriously mind-numbing - game shows: `The Dating Game,' `The Newlywed Game,' and `The Gong Show.' But did you know that he was also a hit man for the CIA? Well, that's what he claims, straight from his own `unauthorized autobiography' entitled `Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,' which has now been made into a movie by director George Clooney and writer Charlie Kaufman. Kaufman is known for devising elaborately absurd scenarios for his fictional films (`Being John Malkovich,' `Adaptation' etc.), yet even Kaufman, in his wildest fantasies, could not have come up with a more bizarre premise than the one this real life story affords. No wonder he was drawn to this material. They are a perfect fit. In the world of movies, who says fact isn't stranger than fiction?

In many ways, Barris was one of the men responsible for starting the trend towards `reality television' that so dominates network programming today. His most famous hits (especially `The Gong Show') were all based on the premise that millions of Americans would be willing to humiliate themselves in public for a few moments of fleeting fame – and that millions more would tune in to bear witness to the spectacle. Barris, craving fame himself, was simply savvy enough to plug into that national mood - and managed to make himself a fortune and turn himself into a household name in the process. What most of us didn't know about Barris at the time was that, while all this was going on, he was ostensibly leading a double life as a secret agent, tracking down and killing any number of `bad guys,' all in the name of `national security.'

Given the inherently incredible, jaw-dropping nature of the material, George Clooney, in his directorial debut, brings an appropriately surrealistic tone to the work. He employs a number of visual devices that help to fragment the world in which the story takes place. Certain scenes break through the constraints of time and space, as when Barris is talking on the phone in his apartment to an ABC executive, who is sitting in his office, and the two locations become one on the screen. The sense of dislocation this technique creates perfectly reflects the mental split occurring in Barris' own disturbed psyche. This style is further enhanced by the use of slightly off-kilter camera angles, color filtering and sepia tones in some of the shots. Scenarist Charlie Kaufman, as always, brings his own quirky vision to bear on the material. He cleverly balances the two `sides' of Barris' life, transitioning smoothly between those scenes revolving around his career as TV show producer and those revolving around his career as CIA operative. Moreover, Kaufman does a nice job getting inside the head of this man who is trying to fight the demons of his own past, make a name for himself in the high stakes world of network programming, cope with his own inadequacies as a person, and come to terms with the vile things he is doing in his secret life all at the same time.

As Barris, Sam Rockwell gives a terrific, high-energy performance, capturing the sadness and paranoia of a man who seems to know deep down inside that his fame is probably undeserved, built as it is on mediocre ideas and a willingness to exploit the baser instincts of human nature. Drew Barrymore brings her usual charm to the role of Penny, Barris' one true love and the only person genuinely drawn to Barris as a person, even though he is unable to commit himself to her fully, preferring instead to keep the relationship `casual' and uncommitted. Barris finds it impossible to make a real, meaningful connection to another human being, so twisted has he become in his value system and bizarre lifestyle. Rounding out the cast are Clooney himself, as the mysterious CIA agent who draws Barris into this strange netherworld of intrigue and danger, Rutger Hauer, as a fellow hit man who pours out his feelings about his chosen occupation to Barris, Julia Roberts, as the icy cool CIA operative who pops up at various moments and in various places to keep an eye on the young recruit, and even Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, who show up for a truly hilarious cameo appearance together, one that had the audience at the screening I attended howling with delight.

The $64,000 question becomes, of course, is this story even remotely true, or is it merely another case of this master showman's playing the public for all its worth? I haven't the slightest idea. The filmmakers certainly take it all very seriously, as evidenced by the fact that they have various friends and business acquaintances of Barris (Dick Clark, Jay P. Morgan) providing interviews for the film, interviews which hint at the dark possibility that the basis of the story might indeed be factual, given the kind of person these people claim Barris is. This gives the film a kind of pseudo-documentary realism that heightens the verisimilitude of what we are seeing on screen. Whether the film is really a true story or merely a grand lark perpetrated on an increasingly credulous audience, the fact is that `Confessions of a Dangerous Mind' turns out to be a thoroughly entertaining, utterly loony piece of original filmmaking.

`Confessions of a Dangerous Mind' marks an auspicious debut for Clooney as a director, who, in his work behind the camera, demonstrates a thorough command of vision and style. One looks forward to his next endeavor.

Clooney makes a very nice debut as a director with this movie

[philip_vanderveken · 7/10 · 18 May 2005]

Since "ER" George Clooney has been a very popular actor, mainly because so many women find him very attractive. But through the years he has been able to prove that he's more than just a pretty face in the crowd. He has acted in many popular movies and did it pretty well in most of them. But being a good actor doesn't mean that you are automatically a good director as well of course. So before seeing "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind", his debut as a director, I had my doubts...

This time we don't get to see Clooney very often in the movie itself. We only get to see him a couple of times as the CIA agent who has hired the game show impresario and producer Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell). During the day Chuck invents game shows like 'The Dating Game', 'The Newlywed Game' and 'The Gong Show'... Shows that are all very successful, because they are easy to understand and fun to watch. But next to his regular day job he is also a CIA assassin. At least, that's what HE claims to be...

I must say that Clooney has done a very nice job in his debut as a director. He has added a nice surreal tone to this movie which makes it even harder to understand whether all this really happened or not. And even though this is a bio-pic, it is never hard to keep watching it or to stay focused. Thanks to the light and satirical feeling in it, this movie stays fun to watch from the beginning until the end. Of course without the interesting story and the good acting by all of his main actors Clooney wouldn't have been able to make this movie. Withouth them this movie wouldn't be the same and might even have been awful to watch. Especially Drew Barrymore was a lot better than I had expected. She never really convinced me in her other movies that I saw, but this time she's really good as Barris Sweetheart. And Clooney himself was interesting to watch as well. Even though he could be found more behind than in front of the camera, he still proves to be a talented actor.

Overall this is an interesting and fun movie. Certainly because it is Clooney's debut as a director. The man sure has a lot of talents and I'm already looking forward to his next movie as a director / actor. I give this one a 7.5/10.

Quick review

[noahgibbobaker · 7/10 · 21 August 2020]

Turns out I was in the mood for Confessions of a dangerous mind all along.

Sam Rockwell well is great as Chuck Barris a extremely damaged man. I went into this film blind and was very pleasantly surprised, this is a funny but also kind of depressing biography of a man who like most of us, just didn't know who he was.

Definitely check this one out.

Clooney has a promising future in film direction

[zetes · 6/10 · 24 September 2003]

It should be absolutely awful. Who really wants to see a filmed version of the masturbational journals of an idiot like Chuck Barris? Actually, I'd forgive him for The Gong Show and the $1.98 Beauty Show. I've seen them both, and they're somewhat entertaining. I couldn't forgive him for writing such a pointless book as Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. So it is an enormous credit to George Clooney, making his directorial debut, that he keeps this film as good as it is throughout its entire run. I can't believe Charlie Kaufman could have written this alongside Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. It's a junky script desperately groping for profundity and/or sympathy for its lame central character. There are only a few moments of worthwhile humor. I especially like the annoying Dating Game contestant who wants Chuck to make the girl like him more. The acting is pretty good, too. Drew Barrymore, whom I don't care too much for, gives one of her best performances. I also liked Clooney himself, in an emotionless role that works well for him. Julia Roberts makes a nice visual impression, but the script didn't provide her character with any interest whatsoever. The cinematography is very beautiful, as well. But, like I said, the film belongs to Clooney and his stylish direction. Clooney often gets a bad rap for his acting, and, a lot of the time, I have to agree. So maybe he'll continue along this line and, with a better script, make a great film. 6/10.

A highly disarming dark comedy

[soymilk · 9/10 · 9 July 2005]

One of Charlie Kaufman's more overlooked and underrated screenplays, 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind' may have been something of a departure from the high-concept experimentalism that made his previous brainchildren, 'Being John Malkovich' and 'Adaptation' (a masterpiece and a near-masterpiece, respectively) such striking breaths of fresh air, but on no account should its ability to engage and entertain on those strengths of its own be underestimated. Taking a well-earned break from the surreal situations and the complex plotting, Kaufman turned his attention here to a much more straightforward yarn that was better grounded in reality; the twist there being that it was based on a story that, while allegedly true, just as likely never happened. 'Confessions' though is willing to give Chuck Barris the benefit of the doubt in regards to his dubious claims to have been a secret assassin for the CIA in the midst of his days as a game show host, giving life to such controversial classic as 'the Gong Show' and 'the Dating Game' while taking it from a range of human targets around the globe. It sits back and lets the scenario unfold without question – and does so with such considerable spirit and vigour that it's hard not to get lured in and pulled along for the ride. Regardless of whether the real-life Barris truly did have some incredible adventures within his time, or simply an overly-active imagination, this movie translates it into one heck of an enjoyable romp – slick, stylish and entrancing on the surface, and with a bracingly poignant and sobering tale lurking underneath.

Kaufman continues to rule supreme with his flair for developing the most heavily flawed and eccentric of characters, investing them with witty dialogue and sharp situations and, as with his previous screenplays, the humour is a pleasantly mixed bag – lightly amusing at some points, laugh-out-loud hilarious at others, even outright alarming whenever it needs to be. George Clooney's direction, meanwhile, though it stands a fair distance from the eye-seizing zippiness that we're used to seeing Spike Jonze apply to this writer's workings, is still an accomplished visual take on the material, made sensational by its meticulous attention to detail. Indeed, the film's fondness for subtle in-jokes, crafty cameos (some great ones among the Dating Game contestants – absolutely great), background gags and general all-round intricacy is partly what makes it so rewarding and worthy of repeated viewings (I was watching it for what must have been sixth or seventh time last night, and still I found myself picking up a whole range of details that I somehow missed out on the first few times around). Sure, things can move a tad slowly every now and then, but with this number of niceties up there to be marvelled at you know you're never for a second going to be bored.

It also draws a fine contrast between the two separate pursuits that Chuck Barris is called to follow – the game show scenes are colourful, light-hearted fun, the assassin scenes murky and deliciously paranoid, and Sam Rockwell, at the helm as our savvy and hapless main man, has the timing, the energy and the appeal to emerge from the two as both a comic figure and a tragic one. Kicking off as a likable, familiar kind of anti-hero, whose goofy grin and offhand ways have us smiling through the bar fights and the womanising, he gradually evolves into something more enigmatic and sorrowful; a lost, confused individual whose more innocuous contributions to society, in the form of lowbrow 'trash TV', are widely scorned (not that I've ever seen any of the genuine Chuck Barris's shows myself, but it would amaze me if they were really any worse than the kind of mind-numbing reality TV that's enjoyed popularity over the past few years), while the hidden talent he discovers in contract killing begins to understandably repulse him soon enough. One of the most effective things about 'Confessions' is just how deftly it uses its gags and its pathos, along with interview snippets from those who were acquainted with the real-life Barris, which punctuate the story at various points, to reflect upon this man, his life, and just how much he really achieved either way, arriving in the end at quite a biting conclusion. I don't think that any other rendition of 'If I had a Hammer' could feel nearly as sad and haunting as it does here.

Drew Barrymore and Clooney himself offer nice support all the while, each epitomising different ends of the Chuck Barris spectrum – Barrymore, as Chuck's bubbly girlfriend Penny, is a fun-loving innocent; Clooney, as his CIA director, is aptly subtle and mysterious. But neither of them, or anyone else involved for a matter of fact, comes even close to upstaging Rockwell, whose input is simply fantastic – there's no doubt in my mind that the Best Actor Award which, as the blurb on the DVD so proudly states, he picked up at the Berlin International Film Festival for his efforts, was well-and-truly earned.

It's not an innovative, far-out, one-of-a-kind experience (a la 'Being John Malkovich'). But it's an entertaining, well-made and entirely satisfying flick with one particularly brilliant stand-out performance, and that's more than enough to do the job. Kaufman can probably pen avant-garde better than anybody else today, but 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind' goes to prove that, when in the right company, he can write 'normal' just as impressively.

Grade: A

Sam Rockwell's best acting manifestation

[lasttimeisaw · 6/10 · 15 March 2013]

I have no idea who Chuck Barry is, but I guess I should not miss Mr. Clooney's director debut, furthermore Charlie Kaufman is billed as the screen writer, so the premise looks rosy. The film kicks off with a self-inspective unreeling of Chuck's life-long hustle and bustle jostling with his TV show-runner identity and a clandestine CIA assassin, interspersing with black & white snippets of interviews with people who know Chuck in the real life (but mostly are pithy sound-bites whose only purpose is to mystify his personage), occasionally the film switches into an over-saturated, over-exposed hue which may engender some hallucinatory reverberation, since the most obvious selling point is the enthralling double life scenario and leaving all the traces which could be siphoned (by viewers) to make one's own judgment whether it is plain fictional or not.

But the ramifications are as much ambiguous as what George Clooney (an exemplar of the mainstream Hollywood mindset) wants us to believe, it does manage to shape a believe-it- or-despise-it logjam and according to the film's depiction, Chuck Barry is nothing but a pipsqueak (there is no reference of any flair in his ascending in the show business), a lunatic has a very troubled mental state (a dreadful imagination of someone is going to finish him off), a repellent womanizer/sex-addict has big commitment issues if we simply remove the " hit-man" halo, so from which one could imply is that the "other identity" suits well to rationalize his personal mire, it is his last straw, but from the eyes of an audience, it flunks by blatantly over-beautifying the double-identity situation, I never feel the frisson albeit the film is being cunningly shot in a retro-redolent grain, with a friendly comic tone and lively interactions between the cinematography and the editing, plus an ace soundtrack with the trademark of its time. But pitifully Charlie Kaufman's script doesn't have too much to bite.

The biographic nature demands a wider range of chronicle, which may also be the Achilles heel of the genre, without zooming in any enhanced center-pieces, everything runs episodic, leaving no instant aftertaste at all to be amazed and appreciated. All sidekicks are come-and- go (with Drew Barrymore and Julia Roberts the female auxiliaries have longer stints, both equally awful I must say, Barrymore doesn't age at all along a two-decades span which is so dragging viewers out of the picture), the sole comic relief is the performance from Sam Rockwell, who was largely unknown at that time and overlooked by the awards season (a SILVER BERLIN BEAR for BEST ACTOR is his only trophy), his panache proffers the vitality of the film against its slightly mind-bogging narrative tempo, also his personal charisma transcends his character, and sublimates his character Chuck, a connection has been substantially built across the screen, a triumphant achievement in deed.

Rutger Hauer, a fellow assassin, said in the film "killing my first man (in the WWII) is like making love with my first woman", which strikes a chord with my previous argument in DR. STRANGELOVE (1964, 8/10), war and killing may truly be the by-product of heterosexual men's hegemony in the society, if actually the raving stupidity germinates from the biologic impulse, along with evolution, let us hope a less macho but peaceful world is ahead of us.

Surprised This Film Doesn't Get More Credit

[dmbjam29 · 8/10 · 6 February 2007]

"Confessions of a Dangerous MInd' was excellent and I'm surprised it doesn't receive more credit.

The story is an 'autobiographical' tale of TV producer Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell) who doubles as a CIA-assassin. The movie is based on the book with the same name and the beauty is that no one knows if Barris made up this story or if the events are true. Regardless of its reality or not, the film is a tremendous example of great movie making.

This is an all-star movie. George Clooney stars as CIA-agent Jim Byrd and also directs the film. He has such a cinematic eye. The scenes in which he incorporates the movie with real- life clips of the game shows is brilliant. The acting is superb with Rockwell delivering what should have been at least a Golden Globe nomination. Also in the movie is Drew Barrymore (delivering one of her better roles), Julia Roberts, Rutger Hauer, and cameos by Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Maggie Gyllenthaal. The cinematography is superb, and Director of Photography, Newton Thomas Sigel, creates a film with such innovative lighting and tones, and to top it off, the screen play is written by one of Hollywood's best, Charlie Kaufmann (wrote 'Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine).

The movie was shadowy but not dark, humorous but not too light, mysterious but not deceptive and was honestly one of the most original films I've seen in a long time.

The only minor hiccups I had with the movie was 1) inaccuracies with aging characters. Barris was born in 1928, yet the scenes in the late 1970s and early 1980s he looks like he's still in his thirties! At least the movie was consistent in not aging any of the characters; and 2) I felt the pace dragged slightly at times. There were moments when I felt the momentum falter inexplicably and the opener was slightly slow as well.

But those details are very minor and do not take away from the strength of this film. This is an engaging film, one that is intelligent and well-written, one that is acted superbly and crafted with such subtle craftsmanship from the best Hollywood has to offer. Great film! I'm surprised it doesn't get more credit

8 out of 10!

GONG!!

[=G= · 6/10 · 10 October 2003]

"Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" - from the pen of Chuck Barris about the life of Chuck Barris, t.v. producer/personality and self-alleged hitman for the CIA - wanders haphazardly through a muddled mess of fact and fiction; a sort of Jack of all genres and master of none. The film doesn't work as drama or comedy or action or mystery or romance or...well, it just doesn't work. In spite of the star power and talent along for this ride, "Confessions..." is not engaging, can't find its milieu, leaves us knowing less about the autobiographer than when it starts, and proves once again that actors, as a rule, should stick to acting and directors should stick to directing. I probably know a little more about Barris than the average Joe and watched with interest on the wane in spite of that. Maybe the film will play better for those who don't remember the man or his persona. Sorry, Chuckie..GONG! (B-)

Good directing debut, under Cohen brothers' influence

[dromasca · 8/10 · 9 May 2004]

What is a worse crime - doing bad television, or killing people in the service of the CIA? That's how I would define in a few words the subject of this film.

This film claims to be inspired by real facts, and you may believe it or not. Actually, in the strange world of American pop culture it is not that important. Killing in the name of democracy does as bad a service to democracy as the TV reality shows do to culture. So that if the principal character happens to be a reality show producer and host, as well as a CIA paid killer during his free time, it makes sense or in the language of the movie - it fits the profile.

George Clooney's first film is well directed, and there are little or no elements to show that he is a first timer in directing. The only observation would be that the story telling seems to be too much inspired by the Cohen brothers work, especially 'Oh Brother' where Clooney was the star. However, the Charlie Kauffman's script is as original and as well written as you expect from Charlie Kauffman, and the result is good cinema - in American cinema terms and scale.

Sam Rockwell who plays the main character is little known, and as I hear was chosen after bigger stars were considered. Good choice I would say, and if the choice was Clooney's it proves that the man has a future in directing as well, not only in acting and heart breaking. Drew Barrimore and Julia Roberts are both good in playing the opposite characters of the two sentimental interests of the main character.

Good entertainment, and not a brainless one for a change. 8/10 on my personal scale.

Entertaining but about as reliable as getting your history lesson from your cat or someone with a severe head injury.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 17 April 2016]

As long as you realize that about half (or more) of what you see in this film is NOT true and it's a completely ridiculous and insane version of a real life celebrity's life, then by all means watch and enjoy it. It is NOT good history, as practically no one believes Chuck Barris' nutty 'autobiography' (in which he claims to have been a CIA assassin) and the writer and director of the film took no efforts to portray the rest of his life accurately. Despite the ever-present love interest in his life, Penny (Drew Barrymore), Barris never was married to a Penny...but had three other wives. And, often even the sequence of his TV shows isn't even close to being right, as the film shows him, while hosting "The Gong Show" (in the late 1970s) talking about another show he was thinking about making, "Operation Entertainment"...even though this show aired about a decade earlier! So don't see it as any sort of lesson about Barris...none. If you can do that, the acting is quite nice (with a lot of high-profile actors making bit and larger appearances in the film) and the insane script is pretty interesting....at least until the very maudlin and dull ending.

Monstrous, merciless, unremitting torture

[LaughingBoy · 1/10 · 6 January 2003]

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

You can't wring much sympathy out of seeing a bad movie. Sure, you blew a couple bucks, you wasted a couple hours. But it was just a movie, right? It's not as though you were in a prison camp. It's not like they shoved bamboo under your fingernails, or beat your shins with a rubber hose. Well, not usually. Bad movies are as common as houseflies, and in general not more distressing. But now and then comes alon something so traumatic, so brutally awful, that it can scarcely be called a movie at all. Last night we survived such a film:

"Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," the new outrage from Miramax Pictures. What separates the ordinary flop from an atrocity like "Confessions?" A run-of-the-mill dud is hashed together, formulaic, and shallow; therefore light, minimally satisfying, and unpretentious. To truly torment, a film must be the opposite: slow, ruminating, self-serious. It must dispense with formula, and enter the 'experimental' realm from which plot, narrative, conflict, and drive are banished. It can't be artless; it must be 'important,' brainy, thick with literary quotations and poetic devices. Chuck Barris, creator of "The Gong Show "and "The Newlywed Game," really does claim to have been a C.I.A. assassin. He wrote a book to this effect. A skillful filmmaker might have turned that book into a small, funny, charmingly absurd picture. Instead, Clooney and Screenwriter Charles Kaufman twisted it into an abortive, operatic pseudo-tragedy. The character of Barris , played by Sam Rockwell, is totally without appeal, interest, or charisma.

The film examines him minutely from his sexually perverted youth until his burnt-out collapse as an accomplished mass killer, yet he never changes. Even his hairstyle stays the same. His loveless, interminable affair with a semi-retarded girl (Drew Barrymore, who should be fed hemlock for her performance) likewise drifts along, unaffected by any outside influence. Barris's dozens of sexual dalliances, like his dozens of murders, fall like pebbles into a dark well. What feelings he has come through mostly as grinding voiced-over monologues. The result is a muddy tableau: violent, yet not horrifying, pornographic, yet not sexy, vulgar, yet not human; both cerebral and stupid, both voluble and meaningless.

The only pleasures to be found here are in the loving recreations of TV's yesteryears. Breathes there a man with soul so dead as feels no nostalgia for the Unknown Comic, or the sound of Jamie Farr's mallet hitting The Gong? Yet if anything these flashes of lowbrow brilliance only increase our longing to escape the nightmare of "Confessions." Nothing resembles the levity of "The Newlywed Game" so little as watching Julia Roberts as a sophisticated assassin, holed up in an East Berlin hotel room with her guns, quoting Nabokov and mispronouncing his name.

Darkly comic tale

[bob the moo · 1 January 2004]

Chuck Barris is a man who decides that his future is in television and tries to come up with ideas for new shows to elevate himself up from the position of tour guide. When his show isn't picked up from the pilot, he is approached by Jim Byrd who offers him work with the CIA. When he finds out that this work is basically as an assassin, he still does it and begins to become quite proficient at it. When his show ideas get picked up by the network he continues to kill, using his job as a producer as cover.

Although I missed this at the cinema, I was keen to get this film when it came out on DVD and wasn't disappointed by the film. The tone from the start is darkly comic, becoming increasingly dark and decreasingly comic as it goes along. Supposedly based on a true story this can be enjoyed with little or no knowledge of the characters and TV shows involved - indeed I had never heard of Barris even if I was aware of what UK TV calls Blind Date. I don't know if it makes it a better or worse film for supposedly being true - I enjoyed it even with me treating it like a work of fiction more than anything else.

Not all the plot really worked of course. As it gets darker it begins to lose it's grip and become slightly less entertaining but strangely more watchable. It is at it's best in the first half though. While Barris and Byrd are good characters, some aren't as well used and you get the impression that the script wishes they weren't involved at all, certainly Penny and Patricia were a little confused and what was hinted at was never revealed in terms of who they were.

Rockwell runs the film really well and copes with the comic stuff and the darker stuff. Clooney is quite a good character in a small role but he does better as director. He uses cross cuts really well and has a lot of help from his cinematographer in terms of effective use of lighting and such. Considering this is his debut as director he does a surprisingly assured job and has a good sense of style. Stars clutter the support cast, some in OK roles and some in cameos. Barrymore is OK but I didn't find her character that interesting, Roberts is more interesting but the significance of her character in Barris' life wasn't developed well enough. Hauer is good and Pitt, Damon and Gyllenhaal make fleeting appearances.

Overall this was a very enjoyable film with it's own unique dark tone and comic content. It may not be 100% successful but it is a film more worthy of viewing than most of the stuff that you see on the shelves at your local video store. Not to everyone tastes perhaps (and it didn't make money at the box office) but Rockwell is great, Clooney shows a deft touch as director and the story is both funny and dramatic even if I'm still unsure whether it is true (or semi-true) or not.

Bizarre story based on the writings of Chuck Barris

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 23 April 2007]

TV producer Chuck Barris has "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" in this 2002 movie directed by George Clooney and starring Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts and George Clooney with appearances by Dick Clark, Jaye P. Morgan, Brad Pitt and others. In Barris' writings, he claims that all the time he was developing and producing shows like "The Newlywed Game," "The Dating Game," and "The Gong Show," he was moonlighting as a CIA hit man. He claims to have killed more than 100 people, though in the film he's credited with only 33.

Done partially as a documentary, Barris' TV success is chronicled as is his love life with Penny (Barrymore); things get a little confusing when he gets drafted by the Clooney character and starts killing. Sometimes you're not sure if he's imagining an incident or if it really happened. Which is probably the point - no one knows whether or not these hit-man stories are really true.

The film is rather coldly done and is about an unlikable character, and I have to admit I normally don't do well with this kind of film. Sam Rockwell is great as Barris, however, and Barrymore very effective and sweet as Penny.

I haven't sufficiently researched this story, but there are some amusing things in it, and I would love to know whether or not they're true. One of the ways Barris claims to have been able to carry out these CIA hits is by sending the Dating Game and Newlywed Game winners to the location where the assassination is to take place - I mean, I would love to know if the show really sent people to West Berlin in winter! Also, Penny appears to be a fictional character or his real first wife with a fictional name. I wondered about that.

After you see "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," you'll be doing a lot of wondering.

Ultimately disappointing

[JohnnyCNote · 6/10 · 26 January 2003]

I had high hopes for this movie, but I'm sorry to say they were not met. It seemed to have trouble deciding if it was a comedy, a drama or something else. Other movies have walked this tightrope much better. It was competently directed, and Clooney created some good shots, but it failed to draw me or my companion into the plot. We found it hard to really care for the characters. I doubt I will bother to watch it again when it makes it to cable/satellite....

6 out of 10 (at best)

[DaveZ · 6/10 · 30 September 2003]

I didn't `get' The Gong Show, but I know I watched it as a kid. I didn't really `get' this movie, either, but I watched it, too. I can blame the lost hours watching the Gong Show on my youth; who do I blame watching this movie on – the critics who loved it?

The Chuck Barris of this movie is neither a hero nor an anti-hero – he's just a jerk. Who knows what the `real' Barris is like. The reality has been filtered first through his book and then through this movie's interpretation of the book. Do I think he was really a hit man? No. At best, the Clooney CIA character is Barris's version of the A Beautiful Mind hallucination.

Sam Rockwell looked more like Kramer from Seinfeld than he did Chuck Barris. I don't need to see another bare butt shot of him.

The behind-the-scenes information on the DVD showed how Clooney created `in the camera' special effects, doing all sorts of scene transformations `live.' This is cool in retrospect, but I'm not sure it did anything to enhance the movie.

Barris is as imaginative as he is weird.

[cobram-1 · 8/10 · 30 September 2004]

Chuck Barris knows what sells, and he gives it to you. I don't for one second buy that he was a CIA agent recruited by the CIA. But, it does make for a much better story than his real life story.

The "spy" sequences of this movie resemble every cheesy spy novel or movie that was ever put out. And it looks like Barris has seen and read all of these cheezy movies in order to form his "memories". If you pay attention, you'll notice that the cameo by the real unknown comic actually serves to lay down the premise that this was all a Barris fantasy. After all, if someone had pulled a gun on you and pointed it straight at your head, you'd figure that your ONE big memory of that person would be that event. But the best they could get out of the unknown comic for this film was "I never saw that side, but a lot of the crew thought that he could turn on them". That doesn't sound exactly like the declaration one would make in a film that purports to reveal the "truth". Putting all this aside, as a movie, I thought it was alright. Lots of twists and turns, not on the dark side at all, as some have commented. It's a look inside the ramblings of a sick delusional mind, which I found entertaining and different.

Different

[Enchorde · 6/10 · 14 September 2004]

**HERE BE SPOILERS**

Chuck Barris (Rockwell) is a man struggling to get in the TV show-business. His idea for a show doesn't get aired and he is short of money. He is approached by Jim Byrd (Clooney) and offered the job as an agent. Needing money he accepts. But then his life get complicated. He has an peculiar relationship with the love of his life, Penny (Barrymore), his shows get aired, he becomes very successful and he travels around the world murdering people.

Obviously, this man is living two separate lives. One as a TV-producer and one as a hit-man. It is funny to see that the movie actually keeps these story lines separate, until he personally get difficulties to separate them. Barris is no ordinary man, and the situations he gets into and actions he makes is odd resulting in a peculiar story. It might be hard for a movie to show an coherent understandable story when it is peculiar as this, but CoDM actually succeed fairly well. I must say, the suspense is low, and to me is put into a secondary role. The main part is just to see the world from the viewpoint of this very strange man.

So, the movie is peculiar and different. Entertaining but not the greatest I ever seen.

6/10

My view on the movie Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

[kyrill_87 · 8/10 · 9 June 2005]

I found this a very entertaining movie. Because there were a lot of scene's which were interesting. The characters of Sam Rockwell , Drew Barrymore and Julia Roberts and Clooney were very well developed. The story was amazing just like the acting and all the camera tricks. The reason i didn't vote a 9 for this movie instead of 7 is that it is very slow starting and it gets boring after a while in my opinion. But there are some good plots in this movie. If you want a fun and interesting movie to watch with some friends or you girl friend I guarantee you will like this movie. All what with all it is a great movie and a really nice Directing Debut by George Clooney. And I never saw Sam Rockwell before in a movie but I liked him a lot.

A weird mind

[jotix100 · 6/10 · 12 October 2004]

Watching this film, I couldn't help recalling another one, "A Beautiful Mind", the story of another troubled soul that parallels, in a way, the life of the main character of this one: Chuck Barris.

It's a big stretch of the imagination to imagine the real Barris as a CIA operative, let alone, someone worth of a biopic with a screen play by Charlie Kaufman and an interesting directorial debut by George Clooney. What Mr. Kaufman seems to be doing is trying to make sense of a life that otherwise would not merit a minute of screen time.

The acting is excellent. The biggest surprise was Julia Roberts, who shows a range we haven't seen in her many forgettable movies. In the film she makes her character come alive. Also, Drew Barrymore is quite good as the girl who loves Barris unconditionally.

Of course, the film belongs to Sam Rockwell, an extraordinary actor who does great work with the material he is given. Mr. Rockwell is an interesting actor to watch. Also good, the director, George Clooney, who as the recruiter, gives a mysterious reading on the man who has enough power to get rid of enemies through his manipulation of weak individuals.

This film is will infuriate and bore viewers since the narrative is quite uneven. Also, it will elate fans of Charlie Kaufman, who keeps getting better and better as he keeps climbing to the top of his profession.

Brilliantly Pace-Setting

[tabuno · 9/10 · 26 January 2019]

25 January 2003. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is a gorgeous, well photographed, well acted, brilliant movie that brings together movie basic movie elements well.

The directing, the cinematography, the lighting, the entire techniques used in this movie capture a new level, a new pathbreaking step towards movie-making, much like Jaws did back in 1975. While not as popular nor as profitable as Jaws, Confessions encompasses a synthesis of great movie-making elements and packages them into an excellent movie for the cerebral and the critical film-going public. Julia Roberts has been cast into a great out of her box role. Sam Rockwell captures Chuck Barris movements and idiosyncracies and George Clooney continues his obsession with the full backside nudity of the male body this time as a director in this movie and as an actor in Solaris. This schizophrenic movie with a twist is full of humor and drama, of character-driven scenes with carefully planned uses of light and shadow, actual interviews intercutting. This is a serious and successful effort by a first-time director. With enchanting performances by Rockwell, Julia, Clooney, and Drew Barrymore.

Better Than Average Offbeat Comedy - Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

[arthur_tafero · 6/10 · 19 December 2018]

A lot of people don't get this film. They think it is for real; that Clooney and Roberts are playing straight roles. They think that Barris was actually in the CIA. A more realistic title for this film would have been "Fantasies of a Sick Mind"; because it is fairly obvious to even a college psychology student that Barris had several disorders. Sam Rockwell does his level best to make us believe Barris led two lives; but he didnt. He just hated the life he was leading. He hated himself more than anyone else; possibly because he thought all he ever created for TV was drek. But he was being unfair to himself. He entertained millions for many years with at least three of his hit shows. One philosopher once said that making people laugh was more important than writing a best-selling novel. This comedy has some problems, however. It is difficult to laugh at a man who has been kicked down on the ground, which is pretty much what Barris did to himself. His CIA fantasies were an outlet for his frustrations in real life. I am sure he wanted to kill several executives at NBC for not giving his original show a shot. He wanted to kill himself at some level as well, and sabotaged his personal relationship with Penny at every turn possible because he felt he didnt deserve her. But, to his credit, he eventually overcame his morbid impulses and did the right thing. Its hard to make a comedy out of that situation, but the situation was so absurd, that it became a very good absurdist comedy; a bit like Terry Gilliam. Clooney is hilarious as a CIA hit man and Roberts was very funny as well. But what I enjoyed the most was Matt Damon's hair style on the Dating Game.

Dull, faintly unpleasant, utterly unconvincing.

[AlanJ2 · 1/10 · 3 January 2003]

Turan in the LA Times was so right. A shallow, boring unconvincing film, creating not the slightest interest in any of its characters. In the end, who cares whether the hero was a hitman or not. He is so uninteresting and unsympathetic, it never for a moment matters.