Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)

Title: Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Director: George Clooney
Highs: Sam Rockwell as Chuck Barris of Gong Show fame.
Lows: Drew Barrymore just really can't act.
RhynoBot Grade: B

This movie has a lot of things going for it. First the screenplay was written by Charlie Kaufman ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Being John Malkovich") based on a book written by Chuck Barris (Gong Show, Newlywed Game, and The Dating Game creator) himself. Second it has a huge cast of big names, most of which are cameos, including Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon (as Dating Game contestants), Rutger Hauer, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dick Clark, Drew Barrymore, and Sam Rockwell.

Sam Rockwell plays the lead character Chuck Barris who is all wigged out in a hotel room reflecting back on his life and how he got to where he is today. The movie starts off slow as he recounts his childhood and into adulthood. From a young age Barris is obsessed with chasing women with the sole purpose of bedding them. Thus he comes up with the concept of The Dating Game. As he is trying to get his show picked up by a network he is recruited by a mysterious CIA type agency fronted by George Clooney. He is trained as a government assassin and is sent back into the real world until he is needed. In the meantime ABC picks up The Dating Game and he is off and running. As Barris finds more and more success in showbiz he is given more assassin assignments overseas using the alias of Dating Game chaperone for the winners in exotic locals like West Germany (in 1972, winter - fun). This part of the movie is really fun as Barris goes from place to place working for the CIA all the while thinking up new ideas for game shows like The Newlywed Game and The Gong Show. Things take a sudden turn when a mole in the organization starts whacking all of Barris' contacts. This send Barris on a major downward slid.

Confessions is George Clooney's directorial debut. The movie is slow at times but has a really great feel to as Clooney blends the spy espionage world with the crazy world of network television in the late 1960's and early 1970's. They are almost like two completely different movies but are successfully tied together by Rockwell's convincing performance in both roles as spy and wacky game show creator. Drew Barrymore plays Barris' long time girlfriend but since I think Barrymore can't act she is more of a distraction to me and wish Clooney chose someone else for the role.

Ultimately this movie is highly entertaining you just have to stick with it and allow it to pick up steam. Really, I know this is fiction but I can't help but wonder if there is any truth at all in this story. I mean Chuck Barris is a real person and really created these game shows. But was he really a CIA assassin or is that just part of a drugged out hallucination (I vote for the latter). Barris wrote the book this movie is based on as his memoirs. I guess it's a testament to Clooney's direction and Kaufman's screenplay that it at least left me wondering where the truth lies.

This is a fun movie, you should see it.