Review by David Parker

December 14, 2002

My only confession is this: I don't usually like biopics, especially those that distort the truth or change history for the sake of making an ordinary person into a crowd-pleasing hero. I'd much rather see an ordinary life told in an extraordinary way. If a man's life must be changed in order to be "cinematic", then maybe that life wasn't meant for the cinema. Tell the story the way it happened, as best it can be told. The rest will fall in line.

That's why Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is such a head-scratcher for me. Surely, most of what is shown about Chuck Barris, in our reality, never happened. But in his mind, with his struggles between life and murder, good and evil, love and the absence of it, Chuck Barris experienced everything that was shown on screen. What I've come to realize is that going inside a dangerous mind for two hours is a far more emotionally profound and funny experience than being inside a beautiful one. Or, at least, that beautiful one.

The plot, although terribly odd, is straightforward. It's the life of Chuck Barris: Dating Game and Gong Show creator by day, CIA assassin by night. Or at least, Barris thinks he's in the CIA. What's most interesting is that the film shows both sides of Barris' life/psyche (CIA/TV) with the same whimsical amusement. It's just as funny to watch a CIA instructor accidentally crush someone's larynx as it is to see that same instructor, posing as an FCC official, intimidating Dating Game contestants on the consequences of lewd on-air conduct. To Barris, television producing and his work in the CIA were the same job. He just didn't kill people as obviously as the other in one of them.

The most surprising thing about the film is just how wonderfully first time director George Clooney handles the material. Clearly, you can't get a much better hand dealt for your debut film than Clooney has: Charlie Kaufmann writes, Steven Soderbergh executive produces and gets final cut, and Miramax (king of "independent" films) distributes. But even with all the help, Clooney had to pull off the film on his own, and he does so amazingly. He allows the cinematographer, Newton Thomas Sigel (The Usual Suspects, Three Kings), to explore not only the ever-changing outside world of the '40s through the '80s with brilliant use of (techni) color, but also lets us feel like we're in the mind of Chuck Barris without resorting to first-person camera trickery or special effects.

The excellent performances from the cast are also a credit to Clooney. I'm not a big fan of Sam Rockwell. Like Gary Oldman, he seems to have all the qualities of a great actor, but lacks screen presence. They both have great voice and body control and seem to be able to immerse themselves in a character at will, but are missing that "thing" that makes me want to watch them more. I can easily look away from Wild Bill in The Green Mile or his expendable crewman in Galaxy Quest. But with Rockwell as Chuck Barris I was glued (except maybe for the many, many butt shots - apparently his name is Chuck "Bare-Ass"). He convincingly pulls off a character at war with himself. There's never a feeling that Rockwell is imitating Chuck Barris, like Jim Carrey seemed to in Man on the Moon, but he instead evokes Orson Welles' embodiment of Charles Foster Kane. Sure, it may not be a spot-on mock-up all the time, but the torment of the soul is right. I never once thought I was watching Sam Rockwell or looked at my watch when he was onscreen.

Drew Barrymore plays Barris' sometimes-girlfriend with a lot less self-consciousness than usual. I was glad to see her at least somewhat step away from the virtuous, innocent girl in a bad situation role. Her character is a perfect fit for Barris; all the off-the-wall zaniness without the demons. George Clooney is engaging as the CIA agent who recruits Barris. Strangely, even though he commands Barris to kill, he's also the moral center. He forces Barris to confront himself. The only slight misfire was Julia Roberts. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the on-the-table face-licking scene, her CIA assassin wasn't quite as funny as the film meant her to be. Still, her role is much more important than that. She is the incarnation of Barris' demons - all that he is that is bad, and all that was that made him bad.

If all this sounds heavy-handed and pretentious, it really isn't. Almost all of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is as light as its subject will allow it to be. Some of the time it's hilarious. In the end, there is a greater point trying to be made. Some part of Chuck Barris wanted to be good. He needed to be a benefit to society, but the rest of him wouldn't let that happen. So when Chuck tell us of a new game show idea of three old guys discussing whether or not they've accomplished their dreams, and the winner is the one who doesn't take a shotgun to his own head, it hits home. Who really is exactly the person they want to be? Surely, not Chuck Barris. But it's the wanting to be a better person, despite all the inner struggles, that make Chuck Barris so interesting, and also makes Confessions a Dangerous Mind the best film I've seen this year.