Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Reviewed by:
Tony McMenamin

George Clooney has a confession to make. In satisfying his urge to pop his directorial cherry, he takes on a script from Charles Kaufman (screenwriter of Being John Malkovich) adapted from the memoir of successful TV producer, Chuck Barris, and turns it into a movie that promises a lot but sadly fails to deliver. Responsible for polluting America’s airwaves with such celluloid gems as The Dating Game, The Gong Show, and The Newlywed Game, Barris, played by the exuberant and wacky Sam Rockwell, claimed that he led a double life as a CIA assassin, chalking up 33 hits. The opening scene, in which Rockwell stands naked in the Barris abode, sets the bleary, darkly comical tone of the movie. Unfortunately that’s the only nudity we are afforded, while the film’s violence rolls on like a pantomime sketch. Handing out parts to buddies Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon, Clooney has assembled an all-star cast. But for all its A-list names and perfect rendering of the ’60s and ’70s, Confessions lacks the oomph to propel it beyond the bland biography section into the must-see.

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