Brimming with slightly self-conscious directorial panache, the movie zips between nearly three decades, fantasy and reality without ever really deciding how seriously it wants to take itself.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:9
Fresh:8
Rotten:1
Average Rating:7.2/10
Consensus: Rockwell is spot-on as Barris, and Clooney directs with entertaining style and flair.
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: George Clooney makes his directorial debut with this frenetic, visually dazzling black comedy. Based on notorious television producer Chuck Barris' "unauthorized autobiography," Clooney's film... George Clooney makes his directorial debut with this frenetic, visually dazzling black comedy. Based on notorious television producer Chuck Barris' "unauthorized autobiography," Clooney's film reinforces Barris' outlandish claim that he lived a secret life as a hitman for the CIA. Sam Rockwell stars as Barris, a fresh-faced dreamer who moves to New York to find success in television. Pretty soon, he's written a hit song ("Palisades Park"), has shacked up with the ultra-peppy Penny (Drew Barrymore), and has his first successful game show, THE DATING GAME. But as if that weren't enough excitement, he is soon recruited by CIA Special Agent Jim Byrd (Clooney) to become a hired killer for the federal government. As Barris' subsequent shows (THE NEWLYWED GAME, THE GONG SHOW) take off, the conflicted producer uses them as a front for his undercover job, chaperoning winning couples all over the world while performing his deadly duties after hours. Along the way, he meets a shady cast of characters--including a sultry assassin (Julia Roberts)--who threatens to blow his cover and ruin his television career forever. Adapted by the daring and mischievous Charlie Kaufman, Clooney's film features yet another electrifying performance from Rockwell (LAWN DOGS, SAFE MEN). [More]
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, Sam Rockwell, George Clooney
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, Sam Rockwell, George Clooney, Rutger Hauer, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Director: George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh
Director: George Clooney
Screenwriter: Charlie Kaufman
Producer: Andrew Lazar
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Composer: Alex Wurman
Studio: Miramax Films
Reviews for Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Bounces around like the smarter and weirder older brother of Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can.
Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind may not be in the Citizen Kane class, but George Clooney's first foray behind the camera does boast similarly bravura technique and an infectious sense of joy in the filmmaking process.
Clooney zips through a very funny first act, before becoming a little bogged down as the action enters John le Carré territory.
Not only intriguing as a story but great to look at, a marriage of bright pop images from the 1960s and 1970s and dark, cold spyscapes that seem to have wandered in from John le Carre.
A film so tedious that it is impossible to care whether that boast is true or not.
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