Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

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Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Film poster
Directed by George Clooney
Produced by Andrew Lazar
Written by Charlie Kaufman
Narrated by Sam Rockwell
Starring Sam Rockwell
Drew Barrymore
George Clooney
Julia Roberts
Rutger Hauer
Music by Alex Wurman
Cinematography Newton Thomas Sigel
Editing by Stephen Mirrione
Distributed by Miramax Films
Release date(s) 31 December 2002
Running time 113 minutes
Country US/UK/Germany
Language English
Budget $29,000,000 (estimated)
Gross revenue $33,014,000 (worldwide)
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is a 2002 American film based on the "unauthorised autobiography" by Chuck Barris, the American creator and producer of television game shows, who claimed to have also worked as an assassin for the Central Intelligence Agency during the 1960s and the 1970s.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The film tells the life story of Chuck Barris, who was a game show host and, according to Barris's autobiography, a CIA hitman. Barris was largely responsible for the creation of several television game shows, including The Dating Game, The Gong Show, and The Newlywed Game. The film portrays Barris's career as a television producer and host, along with his supposed life as an assassin who uses his visits to Europe as a chaperone for Dating Game prize winners as a cover for his murderous deeds. The film includes interviews with a number of Barris's real-life friends and colleagues.

[edit] Background

  • George Clooney's father Nick Clooney was the host of the game show The Money Maze which ran on the ABC Network from 1974 to 1975. Clooney said this was one of the reasons he became interested in the project.[1]
  • Mike Myers, Ben Stiller, Johnny Depp and John Cusack were, at one time or another, contenders for the role of Chuck Barris.
  • George Clooney thought of Sam Rockwell for the role of Chuck Barris after working with him in Welcome to Collinwood.[2]
  • David Fincher was considered to direct the project.
  • The project was set to start shooting with Johnny Depp in the lead, George Clooney as Jim Byrd and Bryan Singer directing, but the project fell apart despite a heavy pre-production phase; sets were broken down in Canada, where the film was set to start shooting. Clooney took over and cast Sam Rockwell as Chuck Barris. Clooney initially had trouble getting the project off the ground with Miramax's approval, since Rockwell wasn't yet well known. Clooney pointed out that he had a strong cast, including not only Rockwell and himself, but also Drew Barrymore and Julia Roberts.
  • George Clooney changed the screenplay, which screenwriter Charlie Kaufman was unhappy about. In an interview for the May 2004 issue of Arena magazine Kaufman said: "I was upset by the fact that he took the movie from me and then cut me out after that. I’m unhappy with the end result. And I’m unhappy with George Clooney. I had a movie that I wrote and that isn’t it." Kaufman claimed he was not involved in the production of the film. "I've always been involved in the process with Spike and Michel. If there's any rewriting to do, I do it. But with Clooney it was different…even the end of the movie is different. I mean, Clooney went on forever about how my Confessions…screenplay was one of the greatest scripts he’d read. But if someone truthfully felt that way they’d want the person who wrote it to be onboard offering their thoughts and criticisms. But Clooney didn’t. And I think it’s a silly way to be a director."[3]. In a later interview for the BBC, Kaufman said about his experience with the film: "I've moved on and I don't have any animosity towards Clooney, but it's a movie I don't really relate to."[4]
  • The film was shot from 14 January 2002 to April 2002.

[edit] Cast

Sam Rockwell Chuck Barris
Drew Barrymore Penny
George Clooney Jim Byrd
Julia Roberts Patricia Watson
Rutger Hauer Keeler
Michael Ensign Simon Oliver
Maggie Gyllenhaal Debbie
Robert John Burke Instructor Jenks

[edit] Interviewees

[edit] Reception

The film was generally well received by critics, with Clooney's direction and Rockwell's lead performance widely praised. However, as Clooney himself stated, the film "bombed" at the box office, raking in a lackluster U.S. total gross of roughly $16 million, about half the cost of production. The film did better overseas, bringing the combined domestic and foreign total to $33 million.

[edit] CIA connections

  • When Sam Rockwell is leaving the CIA training course, he says goodbye to two of his new friends, "Jack" and "Lee". These are supposed to be Jack Ruby and Lee Harvey Oswald.
  • The Central Intelligence Agency has denied that Chuck Barris worked for them. "Normally, we don't comment on whether people worked here or not, but with something this outrageous and ridiculous, we felt it was necessary to modify that policy in this case", said spokesman Paul Nowack. "It is ridiculous, and it's not true. We could find no record of him ever working here".[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Interview with George Clooney BBC News Online Retrieved 26 April 2007
  2. ^ Sam Rockwell Talks About "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind"Retrieved 28 April 2007
  3. ^ Kaufman Cusses Clooneyempireonline.com 1 April 2004 which cites the May 2004 issue of Arena magazine. Retrieved 23 April 2007
  4. ^ Inside screenwriter Kaufman's mindBBC News Online 28 April 2004 Retrieved 23 April 2007
  5. ^ Simerman, John, Barris is back in the limelight with a bang, Contra Costa Times, 23 January 2003 Retrieved 23 April 2007

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Films directed by George Clooney

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) • Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) • Leatherheads (2007)