Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Movie Title: Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Official Website (it might still work): Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Rating (out of 10): 8

Buy the: Video/DVD | Soundtrack

The Review:

Wow. That would probably be the best way to describe the life of game show guru Chuck Barris, if everything he wrote in his book was true. Unfortunately, we may never know if it is all true, which maybe Barris’ last and greatest laugh of all.

In the film Sam Rockwell (Heist), who is probably most recognizable for his role as Wild Bill in The Green Mile, portrays the sex driven Barris. Like many films based on a person’s true story, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind starts off toward the end of the story and looks back on the events that have shaped that person’s life. In this case Barris is holed up in a seedy hotel in New York in the late 70s where he is standing naked in front of his TV. Soon there is a knock on the door and it is a woman named Penny (Drew Barrymore, Riding in Cars with Boys) who we later learn is a longtime girlfriend that loves him. He can’t see here right then because he is busy, but this encounter sets off something in him that causes him to write his life story, which is where this story begins. From this tale we learn that this man with a penchant for goofy hats has had a very, very strange life. Not only is he responsible for game shows like The Gong Show, The $1.98 Beauty Show, The Dating Game, and The Newlywed Game, but he also claims that he was raised as a girl until a sister was born, killed dozens of people as a CIA operative, wrote a hit song, and was a first-rate sex maniac. His lust for the opposite sex began at an early age when he was able to get his sister’s friend Tuvia to lick his penis by betting her that it tasted like strawberries (I think I’ll have to try that at a bar sometime). As to the CIA, he says he was recruited by and worked for one Jim Byrd (George Clooney, Ocean's Eleven) before a mole eliminated Byrd. We also discover that he worked in his TV responsibilities with his need for killing by sending himself to watch over contestants as they vacationed in far-off places like Helsinki and West Berlin. In these places he starts to have romantic encounters with sexy spy Patricia (Julia Roberts, America's Sweethearts), despite his long-running relationship with Penny. We also see how these events eventually cause Chuck to go into a tailspin of paranoia, depression, and maybe even psychosis.

Charlie Kaufman is responsible for adapting Barris’ book to the big screen, and Clooney makes his debut in the director’s chair. A few others in the movie are Rutger Hauer, David Hirsch, Daniel Zacapa, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jerry Weintraub, and some cameos by Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.

The story is what makes Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and that story is very unique and interesting. Furthermore, Rockwell is spectacular as Barris, and from the re-runs I’ve seen with the real Barris, Rockwell nails every little nuance that defines Chuck Barris. The others in the film are good, but they don’t really matter in the whole scheme of things. The movie has some laughs (which are mainly from a warped sense of humor), but I thought it needed a few more to make a truly great film. As it is though, I still give Chuck Barris’ life story eight couches out of the usual ten.