Rating- * * * (3/5)
Here is a film with all the components of a great film, but seems to fall just short of its potential. This seems to be the case, more often than not, with inexperienced star/directors. Whenever an actor decides to become a director, they are given a great deal of control and freedom because of their star status. The problem with this phenomenon is that these star/directors are treated as if they are already recognized directing talents when in fact they are no more proven as directors than the young up-and-comers out of film school. Also, since most Hollywood stars have lots of friends willing to do them a favor, the first directing efforts of these star/directors are unusually star-studded. The result is a cherry-picked screenplay with some A-list stars attached to an inexperienced director. In this case, we are talking about the Charlie Kaufman screenplay for Chuck Barris’ autobiography Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, starring Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts and Sam Rockwell being directed by first-time director George Clooney. Certainly after the amount of extremely talented directors Clooney has worked with over the years, it is not surprising to see that he has a wonderful sense of style and tone and does a very respectable job with his first effort. In fact, the only reason I was unsatisfied by this film was because it had the potential to be so much better. There is so much material here to make a truly fantastic biopic about the secret life of an American pop icon with the bizarre comic touches of one of our greatest writers in Charlie Kaufman all driven by a terrific performance by a young, up and coming actor named Sam Rockwell. Most of these things are present in George Clooney’s film, but they seem to lack some kind of final coherence that a more experienced director could perhaps polish off into a more entertaining or fulfilling film experience. The story is, as I said, the autobiography of television producer Chuck Barris, responsible for such classic TV game shows as The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, and of course The Gong Show, which Barris hosted himself. The movie attempts to show us how Barris got into the world of television producing (basically in an elaborate effort to get laid) and how through the course of it he met his wife, Penny (Drew Barrymore). Penny is the kind of sweet, charming role that Barrymore fits into perfectly and she should really seek out more material like it. The side story, or perhaps maybe the really interesting part, is that after becoming a television producer, Barris claims he was approached by the CIA and offered a job as an independent assassin. The CIA operative (Clooney) tells Barris that he was chosen because he fit the “profile” of a killer perfectly and that he had the perfect cover being a television personality. The details of this “profile” I will not reveal but if they are true it means there are some startling details about Chuck Barris’ childhood that certainly make his CIA story seem more plausible. The CIA develops a plan wherein Barris accompanies the winning couples on his game shows to exotic locales around the world and carries out his CIA duties while there so that traveling to Iceland doesn’t seem quite so odd. Along the way, Barris meets up with a mysterious freelance spy (Julia Roberts) who may or may not be a CIA mole trying to expose the American agents around the world. Whether or not any of this is true we will probably never know since Charlie Kaufman has been known to take liberties with reality (he gave himself a twin brother in Adaptation) and Barris says he’s taking the truth to the grave with him. Barris’ character in the film seems to take refuge in his killing just as much as he despises it. It seems to be the only thing he can do to get a break from his TV life but it slowly begins to eat away at his soul until finally he finds himself a lonely, bearded, naked man in his New York apartment recording his memoirs for the very film we are watching (another great meta-film touch by Kaufman). There are some really fascinating story elements that are touched on this movie that would be very interesting if delved into more, but this film focuses a little too much on sex and not quite enough on other more interesting story details. Visually, this film gets very clever and inventive with several of its shots and the small clips of interviews with friends of Barris being shown in photonegative are very consistent with the tone of the film. Clooney shows great potential as a filmmaker but it’s clear he needs some more practice to find that thing that great filmmakers have that just makes everything gel. Overall, Confessions, although not a terribly entertaining movie, is one of the most interesting and unique stories of the year and Sam Rockwell gives a breakthrough performance opposite a fantastic cast. If you’re into Chuck Barris, dark comedy, ‘60s spy thrillers, or if, like me, you just can’t get enough of insane genius of Charlie Kaufman, this one is definitely worth checking out.