Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)

An adaptation of the cult memoir of game show impresario Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell), in which he purports to have been a C.I.A. hitman.

Director:

George Clooney

Writers:

Chuck Barris (book), Charlie Kaufman (screenplay)

Stars:

Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, George Clooney

7 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dick Clark	...	Self
Sam Rockwell	...	Chuck Barris
Michelle Sweeney	...	J. Sweeney
Drew Barrymore	...	Penny
Chelsea Ceci	...	Tuvia, Age 8
Michael Cera	...	Chuck Age 8 and 11 (as Michael Céra)
Aimee Rose Ambroziak	...	Chuck's Date #1
Isabelle Blais	...	Chuck's Date #2
Melissa Carter	...	Chuck's Date #3
Jennifer Hall	...	Georgia
Ilona Elkin	...	Georgia's Girlfriend
Sean Tucker	...	Barfly
Jaye P. Morgan	...	Self
Maggie Gyllenhaal	...	Debbie
David Julian Hirsh	...	Freddie Cannon (as David Hirsh)

Storyline

Television made him famous, but his biggest hits happened off-screen. This is the story of a legendary showman's double life - television producer by day, C.I.A. assassin by night. At the height of his television career, Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell) was recruited by the C.I.A. and trained to become a covert operative. Or so Barris claimed.

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Plot Keywords:

secret agent | hitman | broken nose | playboy mansion | kgb | 

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Taglines:

Some things are better left top secret

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, sexual content and violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nicole Kidman was originally cast as Patricia Wilson, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts with The Hours (2002).

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Goofs

When the new CIA agents are target practicing, they are a shooting range that has a clear flat terrain behind it as far as the eye can see. That would never be the case. There is always a hill or some manmade elevation behind the targets to "catch" the bullets. Otherwise there'd be strays all over the place.

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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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Connections

References The Steve Allen Plymouth Show (1951)

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Soundtracks

Smoothly Organ, Traitor's Grow
Written and Performed by Peter Thomas
Recording and publishing with kind permission of SMV Schacht Musikverlage GmbH

User Reviews

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind: 8/10

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.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA Germany Canada

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

24 January 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Filming Locations:

White Stallion Ranch, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$87,199, 5 January 2003

Gross USA:

$16,007,718

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$33,013,805

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax, Mad Chance, Section Eight

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1