| CONFESSIONS
OF A DANGEROUS MIND Rating:   Director: George Clooney Producer: Andrew Lazar Writer: Charlie Kaufman Director of Photography: Newton Thomas Sigel, A.S.C. Cast: Sam Rockwell, George Clooney, Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, Rutger Hauer Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew |
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Review by: Dan
Tester
12/17/02
I have been waiting for Confessions of a Dangerous Mind for 18 years. I first read Chuck Barris' hilarious satire in 1984, and in a way, it changed me. It changed me in the same way great movies changed me in my formative years. The book demonstrated how powerful the written word could be; how entertainment that was so silly could also be so provocative and mercilessly satirical without pandering. I always had an interest in writing, but Confessions validated the art of it, of what could be done against all conventional structure and wisdom, and inspired me to pursue writing as a career. The book Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was literary anarchy, and author Chuck Barris created such an amazing fable, so uniquely reliant on his own inflection and phrasing, that I always wondered how a film adaptation would be possible; how anyone could capture the aesthetic feel of Barris' words and transfer them to the visual? Enlisting the screenwriting talents of Charlie Kaufman seemed a good start. If any film adaptation deserved, or more so demanded, the skewed vision of the writer of Being John Malkovich, Confessions was it. So I can't fully grasp how this all went wrong, but I have my suspicions.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind tells the bizarre story of the life of Chuck Barris, the creator of the Gong Show, The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game, who also, it seems, happened to be a hit man for the CIA. Or so he "claims." It is anyone's guess as to how much of Confessions is fact, and how much is fiction, but anyone who believes that Barris was really a government contract killer should just look at the subtitle of his book: An Unauthorized Autobiography. Barris' book was a brilliant mock-ography, and told its unlikely tale with such a subtle wink and smile that it went over many readers' heads. It is unfortunate that the filmmakers appear to have fallen into this duped grouping of readership, and have made the one deadly creative mistake that doomed their film long before its director first yelled "action": they play it straight.
I am truly shocked that someone with Kaufman's creative pedigree has created a script so devoid of the humor and anarchic complication of the book. I'm not sure if his script was "tinkered with" by the geniuses in the suits behind the big desks, but there is nothing here that evidences a man of his creative stature. First time director George Clooney, in an apparent attempt to establish his "directing territory" in one fell swoop, achieves here the equivalent of an excited 6-year-old doing somersaults when company comes over. This movie is so over-directed, and over-produced for that matter, that I could only wish more time had been spent attempting to capture the tone of the book.
The story follows young Chuck Barris' (Sam Rockwell) rise through the ranks in television and the CIA. He desperately wants to be a television producer, and comes up with an idea called The Dating Game, which is quickly rejected by the network brass due to its raunchy content. He is depressed and lost until he is approached by a CIA agent who feels that Chuck's gruff demeanor and social animosity are qualities that would make a fine CIA covert operative. Desperate for work and eager to do something with his life, he is trained to be a CIA hit man, partakes in a clumsy assassination in Mexico, and upon returning home finds a message from the television network stating that they have a hole in their schedule, and want to give his Dating Game a whirl. It is here that the story really takes off, as Barris becomes both a successful TV producer and an effective government killing machine. Preposterous? Yes. Do the filmmakers realize this potential? No. They play it straight, and miss out on the very essence that would make Confessions of a Dangerous Mind great. Even Barris' most preposterous claim, that he chaperoned winners of The Dating Game on "fabulous vacations" around the world (sexy places like West Berlin) to create a cover for his dubious CIA activities, is handled so matter-of-factly in the film that I was floored.
Sam Rockwell is a marvel as Chuck Barris. He captures his devilish spirit to perfection, right down to the raspy voice and trademark Gong Show dancing. A relative unknown, Rockwell has the opportunity to become Barris; to completely disappear into the confines of that crazy Afro and those goofy hats. But his "lead character" status is unfortunately jeopardized by the unwise choice of utilizing some A-list movie stars as his supporting cast. It seems executive producer Steven Soderbergh and director George Clooney have made lots of neat friends in Hollywood, which is very nice for them, but unfortunately they seem intent on working with them on every movie!! Does Julia Roberts make movies with anyone other than Soderbergh anymore?
It is indeed Roberts' inclusion as CIA
operative Patricia Watson that is evidence of the filmmakers'
flawed ambitions. In the book, Patricia was a cold-hearted bitch
of moral discrepancy, a perfect cohort in crime to social outcast
Barris. Their flirtations, their sexual encounters, and their
hardcore CIA action made for fascinating and entertaining reading.
In the film version, however, Roberts simply vamps as Julia Roberts,
and there is no real character there whatsoever. Furthermore,
her star status, when teamed with the lesser-known Rockwell, creates
a distraction in their dynamic. The Barris character now takes
a backseat as Julia's "20 million a picture" persona
takes over the entire scene. She is just an utter distraction
here, giving a bad performance anyway, and sadly the film is lesser
for it. In the book, Watson's ultimate fate was dealt with bluntly
and savagely, which was possible due to character development.
But in the movie, we get a silly "movie star" final
scene that was just stupid. I always kind of chuckled at Star
Wars fans and the way they banged their heads against the
wall when I mentioned Jar Jar Binks. Sure he was annoying, but
COME ON, it was just a Star Wars movie, and I just couldn't
relate to them. But I can relate now. In Confessions of a Dangerous
Mind, Julia Roberts is Jar Jar Binks, and I absolutely hated
her performance. They took an intrinsic subplot and cut out its
heart in the name of box office.
Drew Barrymore is an interesting choice for Penny Pacino, Barris'
long-suffering love interest, but again it just feels like stunt
casting. The two have no chemistry whatsoever. In the book, Penny
was a mess of a woman, essentially co-dependant and lost in the
world, and Barris' treatment of her was both heartbreaking and
angering. Her character was there to juxtapose Barris' animal
attraction to cold-blooded killer Patricia Watson. In the movie,
Barrymore's Penny is just a dimwitted flower child (who curiously
never seems to age much) and all the edge is taken away. George
Clooney, on the other hand, totally embodies the book's depiction
of CIA man Jim Byrd, who enlists Barris into the Company and serves
as his only line of communication. He hits all the right notes,
as does Rutger Hauer in a small role as a mysterious German assassin
with a fondness for the Old Testament. There is some interesting
cinematography, and the set design is quite good, perfectly recreating
the sets of those old TV game shows. But overall, as mentioned
before, the film's general "over-production" just got
a little distracting.
There is one performance in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind that was so unexpectedly perfect that it gave me a brief sense of early hope, but it was fleeting. Robert John Burke (so great earlier this year in Hal Hartley's No Such Thing, under lots of make-up) appears here as CIA Instructor Jenks, the overzealous drill sergeant who turns Barris into a CIA killer, and his performance is electric. He is hilarious as the "balls to the wall" army-type in the training scenes, and later in the film, as Barris is threatened by the network brass to tone down the controversial material on the Dating Game, he brings back Instructor Jenks to pose as an FCC representative to scare the hell out of the smarmy contestants. Burke delivers a performance that is so inspired, so perfect, so hilarious, that the entire theater erupted in spontaneous applause as he made his exit from this fantastic scene. But alas, it is only a tiny burp of the kind of inspired lunacy that should have permeated Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.
Clearly, I went into Confessions Of a Dangerous Mind with more expectation than most will. If you are unfamiliar with the story, you just might enjoy it. It is certainly a bizarre tale, even when told in the bland, typical style that George Clooney has inexplicably chosen. Too much of this movie is just flat out boring, but it is just too inherently interesting to be a complete loss. This has been a long-winded review I am aware, so I will simply wrap up with three words that most concisely elucidate my thoughts: READ THE BOOK.
(A Miramax Films release. Opens in
New York and Los Angeles on December 31, 2002. Expands to more
cities at later dates.)
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