Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)

Featured Audience Ratings

• familiar s

  
  Not as impressive as to what I was looking forward to, but worked as a pastime. Nevertheless, its tagline continues to be among my most favorites.

• Graham J

  
  Either George Clooney is becoming an awesome director or Steven Soderbergh is ghost directing for him.

• danny d

  
  regardless of the truth of the story, this is an excellent film. great performances, great screenplay, and gripping story. i love that clooney loves to put himself in these teerrible mustaches all the time.

• Anthony L

  
  George Clooney proves he?s more than just a good actor, he?s also a brilliant director.

• Jens S

  
  George Clooney's directing debut, based on the autobiography of a 60s and 70s game show host who also killed for the CIA. Although the movie is interrupted by a few comments of real Chuck Barris' contemporaries there has to be doubt about the validity of his story. The film… More
  George Clooney's directing debut, based on the autobiography of a 60s and 70s game show host who also killed for the CIA. Although the movie is interrupted by a few comments of real Chuck Barris' contemporaries there has to be doubt about the validity of his story. The film doesn't care much about that and creates a sometimes funny, sometimes dramatic ride through his career in entertainment and killing, with some really bizarre ideas of humor and imaginative scene changes. Some of Clooney's Ocean's group make amusing cameos and the acting is all around great, merely Drew Barrymore just doesn't seem to fit in. While the film is entertaining and far from boring it still left me a bit unsatisfied, although I can't say what was lacking.

• Aaron N

  
  Chuck Barris: I'm not killing people... my future's in television. A film based on the autobiography of game-show creator-host Chuck Barris, of The Gong Show and the Dating Game to name a few. In this autobiography he details his life in show business as well as his other… More
  Chuck Barris: I'm not killing people... my future's in television. A film based on the autobiography of game-show creator-host Chuck Barris, of The Gong Show and the Dating Game to name a few. In this autobiography he details his life in show business as well as his other life as a CIA assassin. Game show host by day, Assassin by night. The truth is still not for certain. Sam Rockwell stars as Chuck Barris, in a pitch perfect performance, capturing all the nuances and quirks that make the real Barris. Simon Oliver: You are a bloody amateur. Chuck Barris: You're a faggot. Jim Byrd: Chuck. Simon Oliver: Tell me, Mr. Barris, are you in possession of my microfilm? Chuck Barris: Yeah, I got it. Simon Oliver: Let's have it, then. Chuck Barris: It's up my ass, Oliver, why don't you reach on up there and get it? The book has been turned into a screenplay by Charlie Kaufman of Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine, and Being John Malkkovich fame, and who better to adapt such an offbeat story, filling the film with dark humor and a twisty tone from satire to bleak and philosophical in its own ways. Jim Byrd: You're 32 years old, and you've achieved nothing. Jesus Christ was dead and alive again by 33. You better get crackin'. Its also a low budget movie from Miramax, directed by George Clooney for his first time in the directors chair, and being low budget, he gives the film a great look using various camera techniques, film saturation, old movie tricks, and long creative takes to get some neatly done scenes. [developing his idea for the Gong Show] Chuck Barris: We're goin' about this all wrong! We're killing ourselves trying to find good acts. We just book bad ones and kill them! We kill 'em before they're through, as soon as it gets unbearable, we kill them. Dead. Also well handled is the incorporation of the actual game show footage into the film and the recreation of certain events as well as the whole look of the various decades portrayed and interviews with various people who know Chuck. Patricia: Very good Chuck. I am pleasantly surprised, you're not like the other murderers. Drew Barrymore and Julia Roberts also star as the two women in Chuck's life that make up a part of him and what he wants to be, and they are both very good in their roles. Rutger Hauer and Clooney again show up in small parts as well, and make their scenes and chemistry with Rockwell work very well adding to both the dark tone and dry comedy of the film. The way the subject matter of assassin is handled is done so well, putting the viewer in a certain frame of mind that could go either way with if Barris was actually an assassin or not, and how the whole experience was fucking with his mind. If there is one gripe, its how dark this film does gets in terms of its dramatic shift after the first hour, but that's a small issue, this is a very entertaining, well written dark comedy, with a great performance form Rockwell and very good directorial effort from Clooney. Jim Byrd: He's a bad guy. He's one of the bad guys. Chuck Barris: Bad for the US, right, Jim? Not bad in the absolute sense. Just bad for the US. Jim Byrd: Don't fuckin' dance with me. Renda's bad for the Tea & Biscuit Company. He's bad for me personally. You work for me. Renda's bad for me... You're now officially a patriotic citizen of the United States of Jim Byrd. There's no backing out now. We let you in on everything. You don't play. You don't leave. You understand that? You don't play... You don't leave.

• Lorenzo v

  
  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… More
  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. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind marks a stylish and daring foray into direction. Whilst the film is undoubtedly crisp, its strength is also ultimately its downfall - this film is both a black comedy and a thriller but the two don't sit together well and the comedy ultimately undermines the thriller elements. Despite this, the acting is generally of a high quality - Julia Roberts and George Clooney both equally convincing in their roles, Julia in particular being made to look much more sexy and daring than in Ocean's 11. However, it is Sam Rockwell as Chuck Barris who really steals the show. His performance ultimately makes the film what it is and you really believe in his troubled "genius" and root for him on his missions. Confessions..., is however, a somewhat difficult film to engage with fully. You may think you've seen Drew Barrymore's performance before and you'd be right (think back to "The Wedding Singer" with Adam Sandler). However, more noticeably, the action is broken up by comments from Barris' real-life contempories just when you want the story to unfold further. In my opinion, these should have been left to the end as a fitting testament to the man who may or may not have worked for the CIA, because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter whether Barris' did or didn't because Rockwell makes you want to believe that the story is true. <b>4/5</b>

• Lady D

  
  Sam Rockwell was mildy entertaining, but that really is the only good thing going for this film. I was shocked to see this film was only 109 minutes long, as it seemed as though it had been on for hours. It hasn?t quite made the ?awful? list and I would consider it ?watchable? if it… More
  Sam Rockwell was mildy entertaining, but that really is the only good thing going for this film. I was shocked to see this film was only 109 minutes long, as it seemed as though it had been on for hours. It hasn?t quite made the ?awful? list and I would consider it ?watchable? if it hadn?t been so drawn out.

• xGary X

  
  I imagine Chuck Barris sat down to write his autobiography and realised that it would be the same as 99% of every other autobiographies ever written. Really f***ing boring. So he decided to throw in some stuff about spies and assassins to spice it up a bit. This adaptation therefore… More
  I imagine Chuck Barris sat down to write his autobiography and realised that it would be the same as 99% of every other autobiographies ever written. Really f***ing boring. So he decided to throw in some stuff about spies and assassins to spice it up a bit. This adaptation therefore is part biography, part romance, part thriller and part comedy but is a serious case of jack of all trades and master of none. The spy scenes come across as a kind of unfunny version of Austin Powers, the romance doesn't work because he is such an unsympathetic twat (even Drew Barrymore comes across as whiny and annoying) and it just isn't very funny. It's a shame because if Clooney had concentrated on just one aspect it could've been much better; the scenes involving himself and Rutger Hauer are great. Unfortunately as it is, more often than not I was just plain bored because Rockwell is so unlikeable I didn't care WHAT happened to him. A disappointment considering the talent involved.

• Curtis L

  
  The music playing as he walks with the cigarette in his mouth needs to accompany me everywhere I go. Pretty neat, but not Kaufman's best.

• Michael S

  
  Great directorial effort from G. Clooney.

• Tim S

  
  Rockwell owns this movie. I don't know why Kaufman hates it so much.

• Drew S

  
  I would like to see George Clooney direct a gothic period piece, or even a horror movie. His set design and sense of dark aesthetic is excellent. Here, however, his angry hallucinogenic scenes feel squandered and out of place. Sam Rockwell brings a ton of life to a movie that spends… More
  I would like to see George Clooney direct a gothic period piece, or even a horror movie. His set design and sense of dark aesthetic is excellent. Here, however, his angry hallucinogenic scenes feel squandered and out of place. Sam Rockwell brings a ton of life to a movie that spends its first hour being kind of dry and confusing. The spy scenes generally flew over my head, and there's a lot of colorless stretches of expository dialogue. The humor's good, but underutilized. I wish this movie spent less time on Chuck Barris's television woes and more time elucidating the espionage subplots, because ultimately they're what give the movie dramatic weight. The Dating Game's funny and all, but for the amount of development poured into it, the returns are insignificant. Ultimately Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is a textured and mature drama that boasts great performances and dark humor by the bucketload. But I think it could have been really great. Too bad.

• Steve B

  
  It starts off, you think it's a comedy, but by midpoint its well-into serious thriller territory -- and you never question the change-over.

• Al S

  
  George Clooney makes a fiery directional debut. Slick, stylish, flat-out-funny and electrifying. A brilliant thriller. A teriffic film noir. Plenty of twist and surprises. Sam Rockwell makes all the right moves in this real deal movie star performance. Drew Barrymore sizzels. Georg… More
  George Clooney makes a fiery directional debut. Slick, stylish, flat-out-funny and electrifying. A brilliant thriller. A teriffic film noir. Plenty of twist and surprises. Sam Rockwell makes all the right moves in this real deal movie star performance. Drew Barrymore sizzels. Georg Clooney is brillant. Dark, witty and full of energy. Wickedly cool and endlessly fun. Great entertainment.

• Jason S

  
  Not good.

• Michael G

  
  So well done and written it's no wonder no one ever saw it.

• Lanning :

  
  A fascinating look at what are either the bizarrely true twists and turns in Barris' life, or what is a very clever exercise by Barris in writing fiction. <p> Here's an example of how a writing exercise might go. Let's suppose we wonder about all the… More
  A fascinating look at what are either the bizarrely true twists and turns in Barris' life, or what is a very clever exercise by Barris in writing fiction. <p> Here's an example of how a writing exercise might go. Let's suppose we wonder about all the "dates" folks on <i> The Dating Game </i> won, you know, those trips all over the world. Let's further suppose there's a reason why those particular locations are chosen, other than just being a series of random selections. What would be a good reason for choosing those specific locations? If this is what Barris the writer thought, I give him credit for a pretty ingenious idea. <p> On the other hand, if this story is true . . . : ) <p> Clooney is pretty darn convincing in this.

• Nate Z

  
  [center][img]http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/6408/photo174zn.jpg[/img][/center] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) - The premise is undeniably amusing: game show host and creator Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell) in between escorting [i]Dating… More
  [center][img]http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/6408/photo174zn.jpg[/img][/center] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) - The premise is undeniably amusing: game show host and creator Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell) in between escorting [i]Dating Game[/i] couples and introducing [i]Gong Show[/i] losers, was a hired killer for the CIA. The directorial debut by George Clooney is a technical marvel. Clooney is highly inventive with scene changes, camera angles, lighting, editing, color palettes ... I don?t know whether to champion him or credit his excellent cinematographer, but hat?s off to whomever designed the look of this movie. Rockwell is great and carries the film well, though I think he lacks the proper ability for self-loathing that the character needs. Drew Barrymore and Julia Roberts have small parts as the women in Barris? life. I normally hate each actress but they come across as palatable, so that is another achievement. The brilliant weirdness of the story is tempered by famed scribe Charlie Kaufman?s astute sense of the intricately bizarre. Kaufman is a master of the offbeat, but he does more with his story structures and the ability to keep surprising than any other screenwriter. [i]Confessions of a Dangerous Mind[/i] is a cheeky diversion into the ?unauthorized autobiography? written by Barris himself. The movie itself is one big joke and Clooney tells it like a pro.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade:B+[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Better Luck Tomorrow (2003) - This film shows a fascinating side to the underbelly to suburban malaise. The story centers on a group of Asian American friends that are social delinquents and petty criminals that can get away with it because they?re star students. It?s an interesting dichotomy in Justin Lin?s directorial debut. The cast is strong and the pacing is brisk. The opening 5 minutes yanks you into this world and places you in the hands of a confidant voice. Familiar elements abound like unrequited love, jealousy, crashing lows, but [i]Better Luck Tomorrow [/i]gives them a mildly fresh spin. The film?s familiar territory gets the better of it in a languid final act, but the ride is still an enjoyable and entertaining one at that.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade: B[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Bulletproof Monk (2003) - This is one of the dumbest movies you will ever see. I don?t mean to sound overly sensational or alarmist, but this is the honest truth if you sit and watch all of [i]Bulletproof Monk[/i]. Item #1: The bad guys in the film are ?get this? the grandchildren of Nazis. Yes, that?s right, Nazis. We had to have Nazis as the bad guys. There?s actually a scene where a blonde-haired blue-eyed grand daughter wheels her decrepit Nazi grandpa around. Oh yeah, and one of the Nazis runs the ?get this? Museum of tolerance. Oh stop it, you?re killing me. Item #2: The titular monk (Chow-Yun Fat, pray for him) recruits pick-pocket Kar (Seann William Scott) to be his apprentice. Kar is an idiot. The Monk doesn?t help. His big mystery is ?get this? why hot dogs and hot dog buns come in different numbers? Man, haven?t heard that one since the third grade. I could swear the screenwriters of this are third graders. That would heartily explain why a character is called ?Mr. Funktastic.? Item 3#: The monk teaches in stupid opposite talk (?You cannot be free until you have been taken. You cannot be cold until you are hot. You cannot die until you have lived,? you try some). One of the monk?s lessons is that the laws of physics, mind you the LAWS of physics, can be bent just by putting your mind to it. He says gravity can be overcome if you just don?t believe in it. This is insane. At least in [i]The Matrix [/i]it had some plausibility. Item #4: The movie is a complete rip-off of [i]The Matrix[/i]. I?m not just talking style, no, I?m talking everything. There is a scene where the monk and Kar run through a street and building, defying gravity, being chased by men in suits and sunglasses, and they get to a roof where they must combat a helicopter. What movie does this sound like, hmmm? Item #5: The visual effects are done by ?get this? Burt Ward?s effects house. Yes, that?s right, the guy who played Robin on the campy 60s [i]Batman [/i]show has an effects company. And they did the horrible work on [i]Bulletproof Monk[/i]. This movie is so terrible at every level of filmmaking that it becomes hilarious to watch, in the same vein as 2001?s stinker [i]Dungeons and Dragons[/i]. I defy anyone to find merit in any of it. Sometimes you have to wonder what Hollywood was thinking.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade: F[/color][/font]

• Mouhannad S

  
  "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" The story is about a Young, energetic, and focused on a top career in the growing television industry, Chuck Barris finds himself being followed by a suspicious character who quickly lures him into a secretive and dangerous world: that of a… More
  "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" The story is about a Young, energetic, and focused on a top career in the growing television industry, Chuck Barris finds himself being followed by a suspicious character who quickly lures him into a secretive and dangerous world: that of a CIA operative. While Barris gains notoriety as a dynamic television producer creating such innovative and popular game shows as The Newlywed Game and the self-hosted The Gong Show he regularly executes assassinations for the United States government. As ratings rise, Barris incorporates his shows into his secret life: winning couples on The Dating Game find themselves shipped off to fabulous Helsinki and romantic West Berlin for their dream dates it isnt Paris, but it provides chaperone Barris a cover for his covert missions. As Barris basks in the glamour of his two worlds - entertainment and espionage - his life begins to spiral out of control. He is torn between the woman who loves him and the mysterious woman of his fantasies. He receives mass criticism from the public who accuses him of contaminating the airwaves and he finds himself marked for death by a traitor operative. The story may indeed not be true and Chuck Barris may never have had anything to do with the CIA, but "Confessions" is sure as heck interesting. To be truthful, the film even takes into account the somewhat elusive nature of that particular side of Barris' story.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings