It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Chuck Barris, the host of the infamous Gong Show, wrote a book long ago in which he claims that he moonlighted as a CIA assassin overseas. Yeah, I call shenanigans. Knowing who Chuck is through glimpses of Gong Show reruns, and his apparent addiction to women, he seems like a full-blown sociopath. But man, what a story he tells. Hell, I'd make a movie out of it too if given the chance. Charlie Kaufman is the scribe to this interesting film, and we see a bright portion of his mad genius in quite a few sections of the film. The final scenes of the film really highlight his fantastic surrealism. Yet, the potential of his script gets squashed by it's director, George Clooney. The Hollywood golden-boy's first foray into directing a film, and he makes sure to gussy it up with as many celebrities as he can squeeze in, and an EXTREMELY overexposed image quality. This movie is desperate to be Kaufman, but is forced through the Clooney machine. So what we get, is a great idea, watered down. But out of the many problems the film has, the brightest spot of the whole thing, other than it's great script, is Sam Rockwell as Chuck Barris. He gives a nearly flawless portrayal of him. It's scary how uncanny he is to him.

I always love the work of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, to the point that I can't watch his stuff subjectively. Especially not after Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich. Fortunately, I didn't know that he wrote Confessions of a Dangerous Mind until the credits, giving me the chance to watch it for what it is. I'm not kissing any butts here that I haven't already, but it didn't happen while I was watching. It had his feel to it, George Clooney did a great job, though he's not known for directing, and Sam Rockwell accurately portrayed the young, ambitious Chuck Barris. And that character journey plays out quite well.You may not expect to see a movie about a game show host. You may not expect to see one who happens to be a CIA hit man. You MAY expect that these separate the story into two different movies running on the same screen. That's not the case. The two sides of Chuck Barris' life play into each other and play with him. It's definitely a look at how a double life can destroy someone.Tonally, this movie is lying on a city street, getting peed on by Kaufman with his weird, signature vibes. Remember now, children, that in the absence of UTIs, urine is cleaner than the skin on your movie-going face. You may not believe me about how sanitary it is, but Charlie urinating on a movie is the best thing that can happen to it. Kaufman's style is this: it's weird, but it works. It may not make sense at all times, but does. Chuck Barris is one of the most interesting characters I've seen in movies recently and his change is believable, as is his relationship with Penny, that's not tacked on or overly present, but makes sense and adds only what it needs to. Often, the life-story dynamic in movies leaves us with little narrative and feels direction-less, but his life tells a story with a beginning, an ending, and a clearly defined objective and plot.This movie was well-acted and beautifully shot. It discusses what happens when someone has too much on their plate, particularly when that plate is broken in a pile of corpses and insanely good characters.

"Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" tells the ostensibly true story of game show creator Chuck Barris and his involvement with the CIA in the 1960's & 70's. According to his own unsubstantiated claims, he operated for years as a hit-man while creating popular game shows like the 'The Dating Game' and 'The Gong Show'.The screenplay was written by Charlie Kaufman and it certainly won't disappoint fans of his work. That being said, Kaufman wasn't particularly happy with George Clooney's treatment of his script. Thinking back on it, there are one or two scenes that seem atypical for Kaufman but, overall, the movie does bear his distinctive stamp.George Clooney's first time direction showed considerable skill, particularly when faced with bringing to life Kaufman's unorthodox script. Visually, the film is consistently attractive. Musically, it's pretty appealing, too. Rosemary Clooney's rendition of "There's No Business Like Show Business" over the closing credits was particularly inspired.When it comes to the cast, Sam Rockwell easily outshone everyone else. This role should have made him an instant star. Instead, we've had to content ourselves with entertaining supporting roles in the likes of "Iron Man 2" and "Seven Psychopaths" (aside from "Moon", which I didn't particularly care for). Apart from Rockwell, Clooney performed admirably in support and Drew Barrymore fared better than I expected. Julia Roberts is here too but, like Tom Cruise, I find it hard to see her as anything other than Julia Roberts, movie star. That being said, her glamorous persona actually worked to her benefit in this role.All in all, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" comes off well if not quite flawlessly. Quibbles aside, Sam Rockwell's standout performance does justice to a script that vividly brings to life the 'unauthorized autobiography' of Chuck Barris.

From the man who created such revolutionary concepts as "Date Game", "The Gong Show" and "The Newlywed Game", the predecessors to modern-day exploitational reality TV shows, comes "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind", the autobiography of Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell). Behind the facade of a the sexually crazed game-show producer / host lies something way more devious: a ruthless CIA contract killer...In his debut George Clooney shows immense promise, a well-trained eye and countless intuition. Due to the gross uncertainty regarding Chuck Barris's self-proclaimed CIA involvement, Clooney uses outtakes from interviews with various people who worked with him in the past in order to instill an atmosphere of uncertainty regarding the autobiographical truth. Using outdated lensing he also manages to transport the cinematographic feel of the times and help viewers immerse into the whacked out reality presented by Barris - an uncertain grainy world. Was he a spy or not? The answer will probably not be known for many years, if ever. The biggest fault however seems to be the overly cheeky, going for slightly over-scaled humour instead of analysis. Also detrimental is the apparent focus on the CIA-life of Barris and less on the mind of a person, who changed game-shows and television forever. Despite some admirable qualities Charlie Kaufman's script jokingly ventures too far into the obscurity of the CIA operative spy-scene (which at the same time underdeveloped and chaotic), leaving the drama hanging. Also a movie for true fans of "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" with adorable, albeit superfluous guest appearances from Matt Damon, Kevin Bacon or Maggie Gyllenhaal.