Confessions of a Dangerous Mind-Clooney Doesn’t Suck as a Director? Seriously?
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is a fine piece of work. For those of you who have read many of my other reviews you may be thinking that I am being sarcastic and getting reading to let this movie have it, but you would be wrong. This is a fine movie. I will not mix words, I wish George Clooney would retire because he’s really only played George Clooney in every movie he has been in. For a more detailed exploration of this topic check out my The Perfect Storm review, unless you’re a huge Clooney fan. That said, George Clooney the director may be a different story. I was extremely concerned when I heard Clooney was going to direct but Confessions of a Dangerous Mind made me feel better. We, the audience get a decent film and it should mean less screen time for George. A win-win.
The film tells the life of game show host Chuck Barris, who according to his autobiography was also a hitman for the CIA. Bet you didn’t see that one coming did you? The screenplay is well crafted by Charlie Kaufman who deserves some extra credit putting the story together.
There is some fine acting all the way around from Sam Rockwell and Drew Barrymore. Rockwell in particular shines and it is unfortunate that more people have not seen this flick.
In an era where Hollywood films are thin on originality this film’s premise must receive high marks for its novelty. So why so little interest in what is a really good “little” film? The answer probably lies in the fact that this film is slightly unorthodox and as a result the robots that do the promotions/marketing for new releases had no idea how to market the film. I do not know how involved Clooney and the producers were in this regards but this may have been on arena where Clooney and the producers could have worked harder.
In short, this is a solid film, with good acting performances that should have received a more aggressive ad campaign that tried to give potential audiences a better idea of what the film was about and why it would be a good time. It is disappointing to see films like this fail but it validates the Hollywood infrastructures notions about what will and will not fly.
Story A
Acting A-
Visuals B
Originality/Innovation A-
Enjoyability Grade A-
Home Theater/HD Factor B
Overall Grade A-
 |
