Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (December 21/02)
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind marks George Clooney's first attempt behind the camera, and though it has a certain amount of charm going for it, the movie lacks a sense of cohesiveness which prevents it from becoming anything more than a flashy exercise in style.
As the film opens, we see Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell) reflecting on his life. Naked and sporting a beard, Barris (through voice over) laments the choices he's made - particularly the decision to work for the CIA as an assassin. The movie quickly goes into flashback, and we see Barris' rise through the ranks in the world of television. He bluffs his way into a job as a tour guide at NBC, which leads into a job as a game show producer. Though he's got a number of ideas for a variety of shows, his Dating Game becomes a big hit that firmly establishes him in the industry. It's around this time that he meets Penny (Drew Barrymore), a sweet and well-meaning woman that Barris finds himself falling for. Meanwhile, a mysterious CIA agent named Jim Byrd (Clooney) approaches Barris one day and tells him he fits a profile - meaning he's got what it takes to work for the agency.
Though the film is technically well made and the acting about as good as it gets, the movie nevertheless fails to ever capture interest beyond the superficial. It's impossible to ever make a connection with any of these characters, because Charlie Kaufman's script isn't interested in that. The modus operandi of a Kaufman script is, as we've discovered, to play around with the conventions of cinema - usually at the expense of a coherent story. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is no different. The movie jumps from place to place with abandon, which makes it almost impossible to ever really get into the story.
Not helping matters is Clooney's over-the-top directorial style. He's mentioned in numerous intereviews that he wanted to steal from a variety of directors he admires, and that shows. I won't go so far as to say the movie resembles an overeager film student's first attempt, but it does come close. Clooney throws in virtually every cinema trick that's ever been invented, and while it does assure that the movie's always interesting to look at, it also serves to distract the audience from the story (not that there is much of one, going back to Kaufman's screenplay).
Having said that, Clooney has assembled an impressive cast. The script's been floating around Hollywood for years, with everyone from Johnny Depp to Ben Stiller attached to the Barris part at one point or another, but it's impossible to picture anyone other than Rockwell in the role. He's always been a scene-stealer (particularly in Galaxy Quest), but here he comes into his own and proves he can carry a picture. As Penny, Barrymore gives an impressively complex performance and doesn't rely on her cuteness to get her by (which she is sometimes prone to do; Charlie's Angels anyone?) Even Clooney, in a really small role, manages to turn this paper-thin character into someone we're intrigued by - it's just a shame that Kaufman's script doesn't allow for anything more than superficial development of side characters. Julia Roberts, as an enigmatic assassin named Patricia, is certainly the most obvious victim of that aspect of the screenplay.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind could've been a lot worse, but given the sort of talent that's behind and in front of the camera, it should've been a lot better. Clooney does hold a certain amount of promise as a director, provided he's willing to reign in his overeager sense of style. And here's hoping that the movie finally turns Sam Rockwell into a star.
