Movie Review: Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) 

Directed by George Clooney 

Written by Charlie Kaufman 

Starring Sam Rockwell, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Drew Barrymore, Rutger Hauer

Release Date December 31st, 2002 

Published January 5th, 2002 

You wanna know what my favorite part of the Gong Show was? Keep in mind I was too young to see the show when it originally aired. I watched reruns of the show on cable as a kid. I loved watching these B-list celebrities like Jamie Farr or Joanne Worley stare incredulously at some backwater hick blowing on comb to the tune of Oh Susanna. Then as the humorousness of how surreal the act was began to fade and they slowly raised from their seats reared back their drumsticks and banged that Gong. They would always take their time, they would look at each other to decide who was going to gong the act first before finally relieving the pain of the audience by banging away as hard as they could on that big metal gong.

At this point, Chuck Barris would stumble in from stage left and ask derisively why they would gong such an incredible act. Other than his ridiculous hats and sometimes witty one liners, I never gave Chuck Barris much thought. After seeing the film of his supposed life story, Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, I wish I would have looked at a little closer at those reruns for a hint of the guy whose life, at least as it is in this film, was so fascinating.

Sam Rockwell, best known for his bad guy role in the Charlie's Angels movie, plays Chuck Barris as a a real creep who's idea of dating is trying to kiss a girl in a movie theater while showing her his dick. A real charmer. The main interests of a young Chuck Barris were blowjobs and bar fights but eventually he settles for a career in television. Beginning in New York City as an NBC page, Barris decides to apply for a management-training course so he can impress a fellow page that he wants to score with. And he does. However neither the relationship or the job at NBC last very long.

Barris moves on to Philadelphia where he takes a job as assistant producer on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand." It's Barris' job to keep an eye on Clark to make sure he isn't accepting money to play certain records, a crime known as payola. Of course Barris could care less what Clark is doing, he just wants to get laid. Eventually he falls into bed with another Clark staffer played in cameo by Maggie Gyllenhaal. It is then that Barris meets his future wife, Honey played by Drew Barrymore. The relationship isn't much more than sex at first but it is Honey that inspires Barris' first endeavor into the game show arena with "The Dating Game."

Meanwhile, as Barris is breaking into television, he also has another life as a hired assassin for the CIA. Recruited by a man named Bird (George Clooney), Barris was sought by the CIA because he supposedly fit the profile of a killer. Barris had a penchant for random violence and was a loner with few real attachments, traits apparently prized by the CIA. As the film progresses, we see Barris reinvent afternoon television with "The Dating Game" and then "The Newlywed Game," we also see him use those shows as cover to fly around the world killing people. With the help of a sexy vixen and fellow assassin played by Julia Roberts and quasi-insane German played by Rutger Hauer, Barris claims that he killed 33 people.

I don't believe that at all.

None of Barris' fantastical stories, as adapted for the screen by the brilliant Charlie Kaufman, has a ring of truth. Each of his supposed escapades have the tawdriness of a guy who has always been able to tell a good lie. Don't get me wrong, these are some very entertaining stores, but they have a mythical feel. Watching Confessions and knowing Charlie Kaufman adapted the screenplay, I flashed back to Kaufman's script for Adaptation which was also a fantastic piece of mythology. Both films are a unique mixture of reality and fiction and the blurred lines in Confessions are just tantalizing enough to make you change your perception of Chuck Barris from weirdo creep game show host to hip Elmore Leonard-esque character.

George Clooney, making his debut behind the camera, shows just the right mixture of sure handed technician and experimental newbie. He never shows the nerves of a first time director. Clooney appears to have a clear vision of what he wanted to film and then toyed with the processes along the way. Mixing actual interviews with Barris' friends and colleagues with different film stocks and unique camera placements, Clooney directs like a kid with a new toy to play with and his excitement comes through the screen.

Confessions of A Dangerous Mind is an exciting, flashy and funny film. It's an excellent debut for Clooney behind the camera, and a mindbender for those of us who only knew Chuck Barris as the guy in the funny hats. It's unlikely to convince you that the host of The Gong Show was also an assassin for the CIA but it's not really trying to convince you of that. Rather, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is about a director and a writer each toying with the idea of how to tell a story. From that perspective, it's a pretty terrific movie.