George Clooney and "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" are TMNT related....
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Date: 14-FEB-2003 11:33:38
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Swarthmore College: FILM REVIEW: 'Confessions' exposes Barris, Cloo...
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
InfoTrac Web: Gen'l Reference Ctr Gold.
Source: The America's Intelligence Wire, Feb 6, 2003 pNA.
Title: Swarthmore College: FILM REVIEW: 'Confessions' exposes Barris,
Clooney.
People: Clooney, George
Electronic Collection: A97377474
RN: A97377474
Full Text COPYRIGHT 2003 Financial Times Information Ltd.
(From University Wire)
Byline: Benjamin Kabak
George Clooney's directorial debut, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," tries
to be a love story, a psychological drama, a spy movie and a mockumentary.
Based on the life story of Chuck Barris, a successful TV game show creator who
happens to work as a hit man for the CIA in his spare time, it never really
achieves any of its goals. But it is really funny.
But it's not as straightforward as it may seem, and Clooney's movie wants to
be more than just a comedy. Written by Charlie Kaufman, the scribe behind
"Adaptation," the movie follows the life of Chuck Barris, played by Sam
Rockwell. You know him; he's famous for playing the Head Thug in "Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles." The script is adapted from the memoirs of the real
Chuck Barris, the creator of shows such as "The Gong Show" and "The Dating
Game." In his memoirs, he claims to have been a contracted hit man for the
CIA. Apparently, he fits what Jim Byrd (George Clooney) calls "the profile,"
whatever that is.
The movie juxtaposes Barris' rise to fame as the creator of these first
reality TV shows with his life as a hit man. The funniest parts come in when
the winning contestants are told that they've won a trip "exotic West Berlin"
or "sunny Helsinki" with Barris as a chaperone. The audience is in on the
joke, though, and it's apparent that Barris has chosen these destinations to
correspond with his orders from the CIA.
In between these humorous scenes, Barris' love life and the choices he must
make take center stage. From the onset, Barris says that all he ever wanted in
life was sex, and accordingly gets tons of women, as well as the nickname
"Strawberry Dick." Penny (Drew Barrymore), who is the love of his life, and
the mysterious agent Patricia (Julia Roberts), whom he meets while on
assignment as his "reward," represent the choices in Barris' life. He loves
Penny, but Patricia is the mystery woman of his dreams.
Clooney also tries to produce a psychological movie. Barris finds out that
another CIA hit man has turned on this fraternity of hit men and consequently
begins to develop paranoia and schizophrenia. Clooney wants this theme to
extend throughout the rest of the movie, but he does not really succeed. The
story is told from the perspective of the psychologically distraught Barris
holed up and naked in a hotel room, and it seems as though Clooney wants to
suggest that Barris' ideas of working for the CIA were just in his head. But
there is too much going on to bring out some of these more intriguing aspects.
If that's not enough, there are also a few scenes where real TV people -- Dick
Clark and some guy with a bag over his head from "The Gong Show" -- tell
stories about the real Barris, creating a kind of documentary effect.
All of these conflicting storylines need to be resolved in the hour and 53
minute running time, and the audience is left feeling unsatisfied by any of
the plot lines. However, individually, the parts are great. The acting is
top-notch. Clooney, as the cartoonish CIA agent, nails his own role, and Drew
Barrymore turns out a nice performance. Most impressive, though, is Clooney's
directing style. He frames shots in a very flashy, appealing manner
reminiscent of some of Steven Soderbergh's works. He also employs different
filters to create some interesting cinematographic effects and washed out
images.
Though it looks good and is really funny, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" is
lacking the ever-important element of a strong focus. It seems as though
Clooney has a long and successful career as a director ahead of him; he just
has to learn to narrow the scope of his entertaining subjects.
((Distributed via M2 Communications Ltd - http://www.m2.com))
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