Marks an auspicious debut for George Clooney in the role of director -- a job he already seems to be a natural at.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:158
Fresh:124
Rotten:34
Average Rating:7.1/10
Consensus: Rockwell is spot-on as Barris, and Clooney directs with entertaining style and flair.
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Genre: Comedies
US Box Office: $15,878,598
Synopsis: George Clooney makes his directorial debut with this frenetic, visually dazzling black comedy. Based on notorious television producer Chuck Barris' "unauthorized autobiography," Clooney's film... George Clooney makes his directorial debut with this frenetic, visually dazzling black comedy. Based on notorious television producer Chuck Barris' "unauthorized autobiography," Clooney's film reinforces Barris' outlandish claim that he lived a secret life as a hitman for the CIA. Sam Rockwell stars as Barris, a fresh-faced dreamer who moves to New York to find success in television. Pretty soon, he's written a hit song ("Palisades Park"), has shacked up with the ultra-peppy Penny (Drew Barrymore), and has his first successful game show, THE DATING GAME. But as if that weren't enough excitement, he is soon recruited by CIA Special Agent Jim Byrd (Clooney) to become a hired killer for the federal government. As Barris' subsequent shows (THE NEWLYWED GAME, THE GONG SHOW) take off, the conflicted producer uses them as a front for his undercover job, chaperoning winning couples all over the world while performing his deadly duties after hours. Along the way, he meets a shady cast of characters--including a sultry assassin (Julia Roberts)--who threatens to blow his cover and ruin his television career forever. Adapted by the daring and mischievous Charlie Kaufman, Clooney's film features yet another electrifying performance from Rockwell (LAWN DOGS, SAFE MEN). [More]
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, Sam Rockwell, George Clooney
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, Sam Rockwell, George Clooney, Rutger Hauer, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Director: George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh
Director: George Clooney
Screenwriter: Charlie Kaufman
Producer: Andrew Lazar
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Composer: Alex Wurman
Studio: Miramax Films
Reviews for Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Directing for the first time, Clooney turns out to be a natural when it comes to parody...
An intriguing, bizarre and challenging film that invites us into a world filled with larger-than-life characters and strange occurrences.
Clooney's direction successfully steals from the best of pal Steven Soderbergh's work.
Brimming with slightly self-conscious directorial panache, the movie zips between nearly three decades, fantasy and reality without ever really deciding how seriously it wants to take itself.
The American film of the season -- and maybe of the year, or the last couple of years...
Mr. Clooney, Mr. Kaufman and all their collaborators are entitled to take a deep bow for fashioning an engrossing entertainment out of an almost sure-fire prescription for a critical and commercial disaster.
Clooney has not only made one of the best debuts since Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich, but one of the best films of the year.
By taking Chuck Barris seriously, Charlie Kaufman gets to the heart of the true gamesman that he was; by not taking him seriously, George Clooney has made a movie debut that is just a game.
The scintillating aspect of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind lies in trying to discern fact from fiction — or at least fantasy.
A magnificent directorial debut...Sam Rockwell is one of the best actors on the planet. Original, bizarre, and consistently entertaining.
George Clooney proves he's quite a talented director and Sam Rockwell shows us he's a world-class actor with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.
Clooney's version of a beautiful mind blends Kaufman lunacy with a surreal story.
With a dedication to seamless scene transitions not witnessed since, maybe, 1992’s Hoffa, Clooney keeps the film light, and even a little fun.
While somewhat less than it might have been, the film is a good one, and you’ve got to hand it to director George Clooney for biting off such a big job the first time out.
If it's true, how scary is that? If it's not true, it's a great idea for a story.
In his promising directorial debut, Clooney gets away with most of the flourishes he allows himself.
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