If Chuck Barris had his way, he’d have us believe that not only did he write the top 40 hit “Palisades Park” and usher in the era of the lowbrow game show with his inventions The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game and The Gong Show, but that he also killed over thirty men as a contract killer for the C.I.A. These are the assertions he makes in his “unauthorized autobiography” Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, on which the new film is based. As directed by George Clooney, the movie takes all Barris’ claims at face value, which makes for an extremely entertaining film, whether or not any of it’s actually true. This is the conceit both sources exploit; Barris’ life could be interesting as a biopic in itself, and the ambiguity of his claims only makes the film more interesting.
Sam Rockwell in the starring role does not so much play Barris as embody him. His Barris is a ball of frenetic energy and self-loathing, and this portrayal allows us to buy the idea that through assassinations, he exorcises his demons. In one scene, Barris sits in a bathroom stall pleading his CIA contact (played by a mustachioed George Clooney) for an assignment, saying he needs it “for his head.” Because of Rockwell’s ferocity as an actor, we don’t get a chance to see Barris as anything but likable, and so we excuse his excesses and bad decisions.
But as remarkable as Rockwell’s performance is, George Clooney is the real star. His stylish and stylized direction and the film’s difficult structure testify to deep reservoirs of talent and business savvy. This is even more apparent when you consider the lengths Clooney went to to ensure the film would be made, including convincing his friends Julia Roberts and Drew Barrymore to act for union scale (as he did himself) and guaranteeing that Matt Damon and Brad Pitt would appear in brief cameos for free. His list of collaborators is also impressive—Steven Soderbergh as a co-producer, Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation) as screenwriter and Three Kings cinematographer Thomas Newton Sigal.
One wrong note was the casting of Julia Roberts as the femme fatale. She may be America’s sweetheart, but I just don’t buy it when she quotes Nietzsche. She’s not in the film long enough to ruin it, though, and she participates in one of the funniest montage sequences I’ve ever seen.
Clooney has obviously learned a great deal from his A-list collaborators and the result is a fast-paced and stylish piece of filmmaking. Through its taut script, brilliant visuals and tour-de-force acting from Sam Rockwell, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is a small gem of a movie amidst the current giants of the box office.
