Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

A weekend ago, I learned that not only can Denzel Washington act, he can also direct. Well, this weekend, I learned the same thing about George Clooney...or did I?

"Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" is a true story about a tv legend-- Chuck Barris. Okay, I shouldn't call him a legend, because he was a total jerk, prick, you-name-it. But the movie of his life was pretty interesting. And for the most part, techincally sound as well.

This is the fourth feature film that Charlie Kaufman has written-- the most notable being "Being John Malkovich", or at least that's my favorite. Confessions doesn't come close to "Being John Malkovich".

The most glaring problem I saw is in the beginning. There's an extreme close up shot (two actually) where we only see the top half of Chuck Barris' (Sam Rockwell) face. Now, this would be fine, if there was something good to look at on the top of screen, but there wasn't. I don't understand the logic behind that shot. I don't want to see a blank wall/ceiling, when I could be seeing the leading actor's entire face!

After I saw that, I knew that this film was going to have to really do something for me to walk away liking it. It did. Finally we see a great Julia Roberts performance, aka a performance in which she doesn't scream/cry obnoxiously. And she even pulled off a good death sequence. George Clooney pops in and out every once in a while to say hello and whatnot, but it's Sam Rockwell and Drew Barrymore (Penny) that really shine. I've never been a real big fan of Barrymore, but I'd have to say that this is one of her best films, and Rockwell? He's gonna be huge.

The movie isn't too predictable and it's not too unpredictable. We are constantly saying to ourselves, was Barris really working as a CIA agent when he was producing those tv shows, or was he just a total schizo? Perhaps this is the same impression people got after reading the book, who knows.

What I do know, is that I was entertained. It was an absolute joy to be able to see Drew Barrymore shine, and oh yeah, the very talented Maggie Gyllenhaal is in this too! There's also some brief (emphasis on brief) celebrity cameos, and those appearances are rather amusing. There's some sexual innuendo's and a fair share of nudity, some violence-- not too graphic, but there's not much cussing, so don't rule out taking the kids to see this.

So did I find out if George Clooney can direct? Yes, but not as well as Denzel.