A man tries to transport an ancient gun called The Mexican, believed to carry a curse, back across the border, while his girlfriend pressures him to give up his criminal ways.
Robert Ford, who's idolized Jesse James since childhood, tries hard to join the reforming gang of the Missouri outlaw, but gradually becomes resentful of the bandit leader.
Jackie Cogan is an enforcer hired to restore order after three dumb guys rob a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse.
Television made him famous, but his biggest hits happened off screen. "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" is the story of a legendary showman's double life - television producer by day, CIA assassin by night. At the height of his TV career, Chuck Barris was recruited by the CIA and trained to become a covert operative. Or so Barris said.Written by
Anonymous
Most of the scenes were done in one take. The NBC lobby scene, and The Dating Game (1965) montage are done completely in one take; the actors ran around to get into position. See more »
Goofs
When Barris and Byrd are in Mexico City (according to a caption), a Saguaro cactus in in the background. This type of cactus can only be found in the Sonoran Desert in the states of Arizona, USA and Sonora, Mexico and is rarely found growing at elevations over 4,000 feet. Mexico City is hundreds of miles southeast of there and at a 7,500 foot elevation. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Dick Clark:
I wouldn't want to live his life because he hasn't been happy all of his life. All I think is if you can find work, stay healthy, find somebody to share it with, you're the ultimate success. He's had some of the pieces of the puzzle, but not all of them.
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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.
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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.