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Confessions of a Dangerous Mind - 1/24/03 - R - 113m
Sam Rockwell
- Chuck Barris
Drew Barrymore - Penny
George Clooney - Jim Byrd
Director: George Clooney
Screenplay: Charlie Kaufman
JEF
What a strange film. But it all became clear to me at the ending
credits… the screenplay was written by Charlie Kaufman. Kaufman
has created works like “Being John Malkovich” and most recently
“Adaptation”. And of course not to mention that the story
itself originally came from the mind of Chuck Barris. The Man who brought
us shows like The Gong Show, The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, just
to name a few.
Storyline: The movie is presented as a sort of documentary
style. But quickly looses that “feel”. On several occasions
there are bits of interviews cut in from Gong Show regulars. But all in
all, the movie is told from a third-person view of Chuck Barris’
life. It’s another movie that sort of blurs the lines of reality.
You find yourself asking, “Could this be true?”
We’re shown the life of Chuck Barris. He was a TV Game show producer
in the 50’s through the 70’s. As a nice twist, which may or
may not be true, he’s recruited by mysterious Jim Byrd (George Clooney)
to become a CIA Agent. Actually we’re never really told for sure
which government branch he’s working for. He’s now trained
to be a hit man. Going under cover of as a traveling chaparone for the
game show contestants he travels around the world taking care of “business”.
Let’s start with the cinematography; some of the shots are fantasic.
The use of color to set the tone of a place is great. For example while
in Mexico everything has an orange cast to it, and in northern countries
with the snow, it all has a blueish stark lighting. The creative use of
stage scenery to set the cut scenes is great. For example, rather than
shown a split screen to show Barris talking to a TV Exec.on the phone,
they roll a wall away to reveal the Interior view of the Exec’s
office. Then the Camera pans back to Barris’ Living room, hangs
up the phone, and pans back, and his living room wall is back in place.
Well done. It also ties in the whole stage and TV feel.
The musical soundtrack is very fitting. With broad ranges from Spanish
style mambo music, to classical, to classic rock-n-roll. All the while
helping to set the mood and time frame.
The movie does jump around a bit with the time frames. From flashbacks
and flashforwards, etc… But for the most part you can keep up.
This is also George Clooney’s directorial debut. I’m sure
he had a helping hand from his pal’s Charlie Kaufman and Steven
Soderbergh. I have to say it was all well done. I look forward to seeing
more of Clooney’s work as a director.
Sam Rockwell played the lead part of Chuck Barris. He was fantastic. He
played quite the range from a schmuck, to a TV producer, to a hit man,
to a loving boyfriend, to a whacky gameshow host. This had to be a dream
part for an actor.
The supporting cast was well done. The amount of "starpower"
in this movie was a lot. I found myself watching many of the extras looking
for cameos. I’ll name just a few of the talent attached to this
movie… Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Drew Barrymore,
Rutger Hauer, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. I feel like there should be a name
for the crowd tied together around George Clooney… He seems to have
a loyal list of actors and actresses that appear in many of his movies.
Kinda like the “Brat Pack”.
Any negatives about this movie? Well, the movie is rated R, but I imagine
the mpaa had seriously considered giving
this movie an NC-17 rating. The flashbacks and flashforwards were a bit
tough to keep up with at times, but this was minor. And it was a screenplay
by Charlie Kaufman, not really a bad thing, but if you’ve seen his
other movies you’ll understand what I mean.
All in all this was a good movie. Suspenseful at times, warm, harsh, thought
provoking, comedy, character development, secret plots, thriller, and
occasional glimpses into the mind of a possible madman… either Kaufman
or Barris I’m not sure.
Jef
PS> this movie almost never made it to the screen. It had been in the
works for 6-7 years, and apparently had actors and actresses taking parts
then leaving them. Barris gives a nod to Clooney for believing in the
movie and sticking with it and bringing it to the screen. I too am glad
he did.