Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind Details

George Clooney made a remarkably accomplished debut behind the camera with this biographical comedy drama that tackles the unreliable memoirs of Chuck Barris, the host and creator of influential US TV shows The Dating Game and The Gong Show. To tell the story of the man who also claimed to have killed 33 people as a CIA assassin, Clooney surrounded himself with some of the best creative artists in Hollywood. Charlie Kaufman contributes a sharp, deadpan script that takes Barris at his word, and good use is made of cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel's shifting but evocative palette of colours and hues. The film's gleefully erratic tone and style fluctuates between gaudy 1960s psychedelia and muted Cold War grit, enriched by Clooney's amazing fluency with a camera and the film's irreverent sense of fun. Sam Rockwell is believable and entertaining as Barris, and Drew Barrymore is on good form as his devoted girlfriend. Even if the director's supporting role as Barris's CIA recruiter — and Julia Roberts's daft turn as a fellow agent — smacks of self-indulgence, who can blame him for enjoying himself?

Lively and entertaining account of the life of Chuck Barris that does not question his claims to have been a hitman, but instead extracts the maximum amusement from them.