Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is a
2002The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost...
surrealSurrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
biographical filmA biographical motion picture—often shortened to biopic—is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most...
depicting the life of popular
game showA game show is a type of television program in which members of the public or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving problems usually for money and/or prizes. On some shows contestants compete against other players or another team while...
host/producer
Chuck BarrisCharles Hirsch "Chuck" Barris is an American game show producer and presenter who was responsible for many of the best known game shows of the 1960s and 1970s. Barris, who is a survivor of lung cancer, is also an author. -Early career:...
, who claimed to have also been an assassin for the
Central Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government.It is an independent agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior United States policymakers....
(CIA).
Sam RockwellSam Rockwell is an American actor, appearing primarily in independent films.-Early life:Rockwell was born in Daly City, California, the son of actors who divorced when he was five years old. He was raised by his father, Pete Rockwell, in San Francisco while his mother, Penny Hess, stayed behind in...
portrays Barris under the direction of actor
George ClooneyGeorge Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Clooney has balanced his performances in big-budget blockbusters with work as a producer and director behind commercially riskier projects, as well as social and liberal political activism...
. Supporting roles are provided by
Drew BarrymoreDrew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film producer and film director. She is the youngest member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was eleven months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...
, Clooney and
Julia RobertsJulia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became well known during the early 1990s after starring in the romantic comedy Pretty Woman opposite Richard Gere, which grossed $463 million worldwide...
.
Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
had planned to produce a film adaptation of Barris' memoir in the late 1980s. When the
film rightsFilm rights are the rights under copyright law to make a derivative work -- in this case, a film -- derived from an item of intellectual property. Under U.S...
were purchased by producer
Andrew LazarAndrew Lazar is an American film producer and graduate of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.-Filmography:*Assassins *Unforgettable *Bound *10 Things I Hate About You...
,
Charlie KaufmanCharles Stuart "Charlie" Kaufman is an Academy Award-, BAFTA-, and Independent Spirit Award-winning American screenwriter, producer, and director...
was commissioned to write a new script, which attracted various
A-listThe A-list is a term that alludes to major movie stars, and/or the most bankable in the Hollywood movie industry.The A-list is part of a larger guide called The Hot List that has become an industry-standard guide in Hollywood. James Ulmer has also developed a Hot List of directors...
actors and filmmakers to the project.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is a
2002The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost...
surrealSurrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
biographical filmA biographical motion picture—often shortened to biopic—is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most...
depicting the life of popular
game showA game show is a type of television program in which members of the public or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving problems usually for money and/or prizes. On some shows contestants compete against other players or another team while...
host/producer
Chuck BarrisCharles Hirsch "Chuck" Barris is an American game show producer and presenter who was responsible for many of the best known game shows of the 1960s and 1970s. Barris, who is a survivor of lung cancer, is also an author. -Early career:...
, who claimed to have also been an assassin for the
Central Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government.It is an independent agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior United States policymakers....
(CIA).
Sam RockwellSam Rockwell is an American actor, appearing primarily in independent films.-Early life:Rockwell was born in Daly City, California, the son of actors who divorced when he was five years old. He was raised by his father, Pete Rockwell, in San Francisco while his mother, Penny Hess, stayed behind in...
portrays Barris under the direction of actor
George ClooneyGeorge Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Clooney has balanced his performances in big-budget blockbusters with work as a producer and director behind commercially riskier projects, as well as social and liberal political activism...
. Supporting roles are provided by
Drew BarrymoreDrew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film producer and film director. She is the youngest member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was eleven months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...
, Clooney and
Julia RobertsJulia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became well known during the early 1990s after starring in the romantic comedy Pretty Woman opposite Richard Gere, which grossed $463 million worldwide...
.
Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
had planned to produce a film adaptation of Barris' memoir in the late 1980s. When the
film rightsFilm rights are the rights under copyright law to make a derivative work -- in this case, a film -- derived from an item of intellectual property. Under U.S...
were purchased by producer
Andrew LazarAndrew Lazar is an American film producer and graduate of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.-Filmography:*Assassins *Unforgettable *Bound *10 Things I Hate About You...
,
Charlie KaufmanCharles Stuart "Charlie" Kaufman is an Academy Award-, BAFTA-, and Independent Spirit Award-winning American screenwriter, producer, and director...
was commissioned to write a new script, which attracted various
A-listThe A-list is a term that alludes to major movie stars, and/or the most bankable in the Hollywood movie industry.The A-list is part of a larger guide called The Hot List that has become an industry-standard guide in Hollywood. James Ulmer has also developed a Hot List of directors...
actors and filmmakers to the project. After
Bryan SingerBryan Singer is an American film director and film producer. Singer won critical acclaim for his work on The Usual Suspects, and is especially popular among fans of the sci-fi and comic book genres, for his work on the first two X-Men films and Superman Returns.-Early life:Singer was born in New...
's version of
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind with
Johnny DeppJohn Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor and musician known for his portrayals of offbeat, eccentric characters such as Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, Raoul Duke in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Sam in Benny & Joon.Depp rose to prominence in a lead...
in the lead role was canceled in February 2001, actor George Clooney took over directing duties.
Barris remained heavily involved in production in an attempt to portray the film from his point of view. To accommodate the $30 million budget, Clooney convinced actresses Drew Barrymore and Julia Roberts to lower their asking prices.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was released with respectful reviews from critics, but
bombed at the box officeThe phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue retained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
. Rockwell, in particular, was praised for his acting, and won the
Silver Bear for Best ActorThe Silver Bear for Best Actor is the Berlin International Film Festival's award for achievement in performance by an actor.- Awards :- External links :*...
at the 2003
Berlin International Film FestivalThe Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
.
Plot
Chuck Barris' sole purpose in life through his teenage years in Philadelphia only concerns
promiscuityIn human sexual behavior, promiscuity denotes sex with relatively many partners. In human cultures where polygamy is accepted, it is distinguished from promiscuity.Promiscuity is common in many animal species...
, but he is unsuccessful. Inspired by a television advertisement he moves to
ManhattanManhattan is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located primarily on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River.New York County, which has the same boundaries as the Borough of Manhattan , is the most densely populated county in the United States, with a 2008 population of 1,634,795...
to become an
NBC pageAn NBC page is a person usually in his or her early twenties working in various departments of the NBC television network during a one-year period as a training ground for careers in television broadcasting and entertainment...
. He dreams of becoming famous in television, but is eventually fired from his job. Chuck moves back to Philadelphia and is able to become Dick Clark's personal assistant on
American BandstandAmerican Bandstand was a television show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, hosted from 1957 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
in 1961. There, he writes the successful
"Palisades Park" song"Palisades Park" is a song written by Chuck Barris and recorded by Freddy Cannon.A tribute to New Jersey's Palisades Amusement Park, the song is an up-tempo tune led by a distinctive organ part...
with
Freddy CannonFreddy Cannon is an American rock and roll singer. He is best known for his transatlantic, million selling, Top 10 hit, "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans."-Biography:...
and falls in love with a woman named Penny Pacino. Chuck is given permission to pitch the concept for
The Dating GameThe Dating Game is an ABC television show that first aired on December 20, 1965 and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s...
at the
American Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
(ABC); he receives $7,500 to create a
television pilotA television pilot is a test episode of an intended television series. It is an early step in the development of a television series, much like pilot lights or pilot studies serve as precursors to the start of larger activity, or pilot holes prepare the way for larger holes. Networks use pilots to...
for the studio. However, ABC abandons
The Dating Game in favor of
Hootenanny. Chuck then struggles with his life and succumbs to unsuccessful
bar fightsCultural institutions which serve alcohol, such as bars and pubs, often attract more violence than other cultural institutions...
. He is noticed by a man named Jim Byrd, a
CIAThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government.It is an independent agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior United States policymakers....
agent who recruits Chuck as an assassin.
Returning from a mission in Mexico, Chuck finds that Penny has conformed to the
hippieThe hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the early 1960s and spread around the world. The word hippie derives from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district...
movement. ABC decides to
greenlightTo greenlight a project is to give permission or a go ahead to move forward with a project. In the context of the movie and TV businesses, to greenlight something is to formally approve its production finance, thereby allowing the project to move forward from the development phase to pre-production...
The Dating Game, and by 1967 the TV show is a phenomenon. Chuck takes another mission for the CIA in
HelsinkiHelsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the southern part of Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, by the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it the most populous municipality in Finland by a wide margin...
,
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland
, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
, where he meets gorgeous agent operative Patricia Watson. Chuck finds even more success when
The Newlywed GameThe Newlywed Game is an American television game show that pits newly-married couples against each other in a series of revealing question rounds to determine how well the spouses know each other. The program, originally created by Nick Nicholson and E. Roger Muir and produced by Chuck Barris, has...
goes on air. He and Penny decide to move into a house together, but Chuck is cautious of marriage, much to the dismay of Penny. In 1970 Jim convinces Chuck to go on another mission in
West BerlinWest Berlin was the name given to the western part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors established in 1945. It was in many ways integrated with, although legally not a part of, West Germany...
to assassinate communist Hans Colbert. There, Chuck is introduced to German-American agent Keeler and is held captured by the
KGBThe KGB was the national security agency of the USSR. From 1954 until 1991, the Committee for State Security was the Communist state's premier secret police, internal security, and espionage organization, whose coat of arms—the Shield and the Sword—illustrate a national military hierarchy...
for weeks.
In 1976
Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
, Chuck creates
The Gong ShowThe Gong Show is a parody of television variety shows. It broadcast on NBC's daytime schedule from June 14, 1976 through July 21, 1978, and in first-run syndication from 1976-1980 and 1988-1989...
and becomes even more famous as its host, but is criticized for being instrumental in the decline of quality television. Meanwhile, Keeler is murdered and Jim warns Chuck of a
moleA mole is a spy who works for an enemy nation, but whose loyalty ostensibly lies with his own nation's government. In some usage, a mole differs from a defector in that a mole is a spy before gaining access to classified information, while a defector becomes a spy only after gaining access...
in the Agency. Chuck's TV shows are canceled due to poor ratings and his relationship with Penny becomes complex. One night, Chuck finds Jim in his backyard pool, sitting atop the diving board. Jim reveals to Chuck why "he fit the profile" for the CIA's recruitment policy of assassins. Jim tells Chuck that his twin sister died in child birth because Chuck strangled her using his
umbilical cordIn placental mammals, the umbilical cord is the connecting cord from the developing embryo or fetus to the placenta...
, which is considered his first murder. His mother always wanted a daughter and blamed Chuck for his sister's death. Until his sister Phoebe was born, Chuck's mother raised him as a girl.
Jim also tells Chuck that his biological father was a serial killer named Edmund James Windsor; conceived during an affair in 1928. During the conversation Jim mysteriously dies, which leads to Chuck becoming traumatized with past reflections of his CIA and television career. In 1981 he
recluseA recluse is someone in isolation who hides away from the attention of the public, a person who lives in solitude, i.e. seclusion from intercourse with the world...
s himself in a New York City hotel; Penny tries to convince him to return to California and get married. Chuck leaves his hotel room and confronts Patricia in
BostonBoston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England"...
. There, he finds that she is the mole Jim warned him about. Chuck kills Patricia and begins to write his autobiography,
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Chuck finally decides to marry Penny. In 2002 he prepares for an interview for the film adaptation of his autobiography.
Cast
- Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell is an American actor, appearing primarily in independent films.-Early life:Rockwell was born in Daly City, California, the son of actors who divorced when he was five years old. He was raised by his father, Pete Rockwell, in San Francisco while his mother, Penny Hess, stayed behind in...
as Chuck BarrisCharles Hirsch "Chuck" Barris is an American game show producer and presenter who was responsible for many of the best known game shows of the 1960s and 1970s. Barris, who is a survivor of lung cancer, is also an author. -Early career:...
: A successful game showA game show is a type of television program in which members of the public or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving problems usually for money and/or prizes. On some shows contestants compete against other players or another team while...
producer/host who carries a secret life as a CIA assassin. Michael CeraMichael Austin Cera is a Canadian actor best known for his roles in Arrested Development, Superbad, Juno, and Year One. Cera received two Canadian Comedy Award Best Actor nominations in 2008 for his work in Juno and Superbad, winning for Superbad.-Early life and education:Cera was born in...
portrays the eleven year old version of Chuck.
- Drew Barrymore
Drew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film producer and film director. She is the youngest member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was eleven months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...
as Penny Pacino: She first meets Chuck in the 1960s and stays as his girlfriend for years. They decide to get married in the early 1980s.
- George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Clooney has balanced his performances in big-budget blockbusters with work as a producer and director behind commercially riskier projects, as well as social and liberal political activism...
as Jim Byrd: A CIA agent who recruits Chuck in the position as an assassin. He is killed by Patricia.
- Julia Roberts
Julia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became well known during the early 1990s after starring in the romantic comedy Pretty Woman opposite Richard Gere, which grossed $463 million worldwide...
as Patricia Watson: A gorgeous and seductive Agent who is revealed to be a moleA mole is a spy who works for an enemy nation, but whose loyalty ostensibly lies with his own nation's government. In some usage, a mole differs from a defector in that a mole is a spy before gaining access to classified information, while a defector becomes a spy only after gaining access...
.
- Rutger Hauer
Rutger Oelsen Hauer is a Golden Globe–winning Dutch film actor. He is well known for his roles in Blind Fury, Blade Runner, The Hitcher, Nighthawks, Ladyhawke, The Blood of Heroes and Batman Begins....
as Keeler: A German-American spy and World War II veteran who befriends Chuck. He is killed by Patricia.
- Jerry Weintraub
Jerry Weintraub is an American film producer and former chairman and CEO of United Artists. He now lives in Palm Springs, California.-Early and personal life and career:...
as Larry Goldberg: President of the American Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
(ABC).
- Robert John Burke
-Career:Currently, Burke is with the cast of Denis Leary's Rescue Me and plays Bart Bass on The CW's Gossip Girl. Recently, he was working on the TV series Kidnapped for NBC and was a featured character on ABC's series Six Degrees. Burke has also had recurring roles on Law & Order, and he appeared...
as Instructor Jenks: An eccentric CIA instructor.
- Michael Ensign
- Early life :Ensign was born in Safford, Arizona and was raised in both the United States and England. He trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and spent the first ten years of his professional career working in the theatre in Britain.- Career :...
as Simon Oliver: British CIA supervisor who is the first to fall victim to Patricia's murders
- Maggie Gyllenhaal
Margaret Ruth "Maggie" Gyllenhaal is an American stage and screen actress. She is the daughter of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal and the older sister of actor Jake Gyllenhaal. She made her screen debut when she began to appear in her father's films...
as Debbie: A stagehandA stagehand is a person who works backstage or behind the scenes in theatres, film, television, or location performance. Their duties include setting up the scenery, lights, sound, props, rigging, and special effects for a production....
who works with Chuck on the set for American BandstandAmerican Bandstand was a television show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, hosted from 1957 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
.
Barris, Dick Clark,
Jim LangeJim Lange is a former American game show host and disc jockey. He was particularly well known to listeners in the San Francisco and Los Angeles radio markets with stints at several stations in both markets, racking up over 45 years on the air...
, Murray Langston (
The Unknown ComicThe Unknown Comic is the stage name of Canadian-American actor and stand-up comic Murray Langston , best known for his comic performances on The Gong Show, usually appearing with a paper bag over his head....
),
Jaye P. MorganJaye P. Morgan is a retired popular American singer and game show panelist.-Early life:Morgan was born in Mancos, Colorado, but her family moved to California by the time she was in high school...
and Gene Patton (
Gene Gene the Dancing MachineGene Gene the Dancing Machine, aka Eugene Patton , was a member of the stage crew and occasional performer on The Gong Show. Gene was the first African-American member of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees, Local 33.He was one of several amateur performers who would "warm...
) are featured in the film through interviews that fulcrum the storyline through
self-referenceSelf-reference occurs in natural or formal languages when a sentence or formula refers to itself. The reference may be expressed either directly; through some intermediate sentence or formula; or by means of some encoding...
events.
Clooney approached
Brad PittWilliam Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. He has been cited as one of the world's most attractive men, a label that entices the media to report on his off-screen life...
and
Matt DamonMatthew Paige Damon is an American actor, writer and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting, from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
to cameo as the bachelors on
The Dating Game during publicity for
Ocean's ElevenOcean's Eleven is a 2001 remake of the 1960 Rat Pack caper film of the same name. The 2001 film was directed by Steven Soderbergh and features an ensemble cast. The film was a success at the box office and with critics. Soderbergh directed two sequels, Ocean's Twelve in 2004 and Ocean's Thirteen in...
. "I said, '
Burt ReynoldsBurton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Paul "Wrecking" Crewe in The Longest Yard, Coach Nate Scarborough in the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard, Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, J.J...
was on
The Dating Game and he didn't get picked, and
Tom SelleckThomas William "Tom" Selleck is an American actor, screenwriter and film producer, perhaps best known for his starring role on the television show Magnum, P.I., and for his recurring role as Dr...
was on and didn't get picked.' I thought it would be funny if those guys came out. That was a pure and simple favor."
Development
Chuck BarrisCharles Hirsch "Chuck" Barris is an American game show producer and presenter who was responsible for many of the best known game shows of the 1960s and 1970s. Barris, who is a survivor of lung cancer, is also an author. -Early career:...
first sold the
film rightsFilm rights are the rights under copyright law to make a derivative work -- in this case, a film -- derived from an item of intellectual property. Under U.S...
of his "unauthorized autobiography" to
Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
in the late-1980s. Columbia president
Dawn SteelDawn Steel was one of the first women to run a major Hollywood film studio. She was born as Dawn Spielberg in New York City and raised in the suburb Great Neck, Long Island. Her father changed the family name.- Career :Dawn Steel attended New York University but did not graduate...
greenlightTo greenlight a project is to give permission or a go ahead to move forward with a project. In the context of the movie and TV businesses, to greenlight something is to formally approve its production finance, thereby allowing the project to move forward from the development phase to pre-production...
ed
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind with
Jim McBrideJim McBride is an American television and film director, producer, and screenwriter.-Filmography:* David Holzman's Diary * My Girlfriend's Wedding...
directing. McBride offered the lead role to
Richard DreyfussRichard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of films, television and theater roles since the late 1960s. He is probably best known for his roles in the films Jaws, The Goodbye Girl, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Always, Mr...
, who refused to read the script because he believed Barris'
morbid humorBlack comedy is a sub-genre of comedy and satire in which topics and events that are usually regarded as taboo are treated in a satirical or humorous manner while retaining their seriousness...
was distasteful. The project was abandoned at Columbia when Steel was fired in 1989. Producer
Andrew LazarAndrew Lazar is an American film producer and graduate of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.-Filmography:*Assassins *Unforgettable *Bound *10 Things I Hate About You...
optioned the film rights from Columbia in 1997 and set
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind at
Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Warner Bros. Pictures, or simply Warner Bros.—the shortened form of the former official, sometimes still used, formal corporate name: Warner Brothers
Pictures that same year. Charlie KaufmanCharles Stuart "Charlie" Kaufman is an Academy Award-, BAFTA-, and Independent Spirit Award-winning American screenwriter, producer, and director...
entered discussions to write a new screenplay in June 1997 and finished his first draft later that year. Barris gave positive feedback to Kaufman's script and Curtis HansonCurtis Lee Hanson is an Academy Award-winning American filmmaker.-Early life:Hanson was born in Reno, Nevada and grew up in Los Angeles, the son of Beverly June and William Hanson. Hanson dropped out of high school, finding work as a freelance photographer and editor for Cinema magazine...
instantly agreed to direct with Sean PennSean Justin Penn is an American film actor and director, also known for being a political activist. He is a two-time Academy Award winner for his roles in Mystic River and Milk, as well as the recipient of a Golden Globe Award for the former and a Screen Actors Guild Award for the latter.-Early...
in the lead role and George ClooneyGeorge Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Clooney has balanced his performances in big-budget blockbusters with work as a producer and director behind commercially riskier projects, as well as social and liberal political activism...
and Drew BarrymoreDrew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film producer and film director. She is the youngest member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was eleven months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...
attached to co-star.
Hanson eventually dropped out, but with the financial success of My Best Friend's WeddingMy Best Friend's Wedding is a 1997 romantic comedy film from TriStar Pictures, directed by P. J. Hogan.It stars Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Dermot Mulroney, Rupert Everett and Rachel Griffiths.The film was a commercial and critical success...
(1997), P. J. HoganPaul John "P. J." Hogan is an Australian film director.As a teenager, Hogan lived on the North Coast of New South Wales and attended Mt St Patrick's College and was said to have had a difficult time in high school as he was a victim of bullying.His first big hit was the 1994 Australian film...
entered discussions with Warner Bros. to direct in January 1998. Mike MyersMichael John "Mike" Myers is a Canadian-English actor, comedian, screenwriter and film producer. He was a long-time cast member on the NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live in the late 1980s and the early 1990s and starred as the title characters in the films Wayne's World, Austin Powers, and ...
signed on to replace Sean Penn, who vacated the lead role. However, negotiations with Hogan fell through; Sam MendesSamuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes CBE is an English stage, film and commercial director at RSA US. He is known for his 1998 production of Cabaret, starring Alan Cumming, and his debut film, American Beauty, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director.-Early years:Mendes was born in Reading,...
, David FincherDavid Andrew Leo Fincher is an American filmmaker and music video director known for his dark and stylish movies such as Seven, Fight Club, Zodiac and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.- Early life and career :...
and Darren AronofskyDarren Aronofsky is an American filmmaker, screenwriter and film producer.-Early life:Aronofsky was born in Brooklyn, New York to Abraham and Charlotte Aronofsky, both school teachers. His father taught science and was a dean at Bushwick High School.He graduated from Edward R. Murrow High School...
all became interested in taking over the directors position. Fincher and Myers were fast trackFast track may refer to:* Fast track for trade agreements in the United States* FDA Fast Track Development Program...
ing production for Confessions in April 2000 but Fincher dropped out and, by that October, Brian De PalmaBrian De Palma is an American film director. In a career spanning over forty years, he is probably best known for his suspense and thriller films, including such box office successes as Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, Carlito's Way, The Untouchables, and Mission: Impossible.Throughout the 1970s...
was attached to direct with Renaissance PicturesRenaissance Pictures is an American film production company. Founded by director Sam Raimi, producer Rob Tapert and actor Bruce Campbell, with help from publicist Irvin Shapiro, on August 10, 1979, to produce their film The Evil Dead, which, along with its sequels Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness,...
co-financing. Later that month, Warner Bros. put the project in turnaround, and Myers lost interest. Russell CroweRussell Ira Crowe is an Australian actor and musician. His acting career began in the early 1990s with roles in Australian TV series such as Police Rescue and films such as Romper Stomper. In the late 1990s, he began appearing in US films such as the 1997 movie L.A. Confidential...
, Kevin SpaceyKevin Spacey is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...
and Edward NortonEdward Harrison Norton is an American film actor, screenwriter and director. In 1996, his supporting role in the courtroom drama Primal Fear garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. A year later, his lead role as a reformed white power skinhead in American History...
had also been attached to the film in the early development stages.
In December 2000 Ben StillerBenjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
was in discussions to star as Chuck Barris with Bryan SingerBryan Singer is an American film director and film producer. Singer won critical acclaim for his work on The Usual Suspects, and is especially popular among fans of the sci-fi and comic book genres, for his work on the first two X-Men films and Superman Returns.-Early life:Singer was born in New...
directing and Clooney still aboard. However, Stiller was forced to vacate Confessions due to scheduling conflicts with ZoolanderZoolander is a 2001 comedy film directed by Ben Stiller. The films concept is based on the Bret Easton Ellis book Glamorama, with elements from a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates and written by Drake Sather and Stiller for the VH1 Fashion Awards television specials in 1996 and 1997....
(2001) and The Royal TenenbaumsThe Royal Tenenbaums is a 2001 dramedy film directed by Wes Anderson about three gifted siblings who experience great success in youth, and even greater disappointment and failure after their eccentric father leaves them in their adolescent years...
(2001). Although Singer was interested in Sam RockwellSam Rockwell is an American actor, appearing primarily in independent films.-Early life:Rockwell was born in Daly City, California, the son of actors who divorced when he was five years old. He was raised by his father, Pete Rockwell, in San Francisco while his mother, Penny Hess, stayed behind in...
in the lead role, the director cast Johnny DeppJohn Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor and musician known for his portrayals of offbeat, eccentric characters such as Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, Raoul Duke in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Sam in Benny & Joon.Depp rose to prominence in a lead...
to replace Stiller and commenced pre-productionPre-production is the process of preparing all the elements involved in a film, play, or other performance.- Information :In the film industry, pre-production usually only commences once a project has been developed and is greenlit...
in January 2001 on a planned $35 million budget. Renaissance Pictures was holding international distribution rights, but the filmmakers still needed more financing as well as a studio to cover distribution duties in the United States.
Grosvenor ParkGrosvenor Park is a British production and film-financing company. Now based in Los Angeles, and with offices in London and Toronto. Their credits include Buffalo Soldiers, Miss Potter, Penelope, Disaster Movie, Defiance and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.Grosvenor Park was a football ground...
was interested in co-financing with Renaissance, but the next month (February 2001), Confessions was once again stalled in development. Miramax FilmsMiramax Films is the art-house/independent film division of The Walt Disney Company, and acts as both producer and distributor for its own films or foreign films....
has been negotiating for domestic rights, but difficulties arose when Miramax also wanted to cover international rights. Renaissance was also unable to close the financing in time to accommodate both the "production insurance" deadline and the 65-day shooting scheduleA shooting schedule is a project plan of each day's shooting for a film production. It is normally created and managed by the assistant director, who reports to the production manager managing the production schedule...
, which was set to primarily take place in MontrealMontreal is the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie , the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the...
and British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada.The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the 15th largest metropolitan region in Canada...
, Canada. Artisan EntertainmentArtisan Entertainment was a privately held independent American movie studio until it was purchased by a Canadian studio, Lionsgate, in 2003. At the time of its acquisition, Artisan had a library of thousands of films developed through acquisition, original production, and production and...
then became interested in covering North American distribution rights, but dropped out after the bid went over $8 million. Johnny Depp eventually went to work on other films.
George Clooney
With Singer busy preparing X-Men 2X2 is a 2003 superhero film based on the fictional characters the X-Men. Directed by Bryan Singer, it is the second film in the X-Men film series...
(2003), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was rejuvenated with actor George Clooney taking over the director's position. Miramax FilmsMiramax Films is the art-house/independent film division of The Walt Disney Company, and acts as both producer and distributor for its own films or foreign films....
agreed to cover distribution duties and co-finance the film. In the end, funding for Confessions of a Dangerous Mind came from Miramax, Clooney's own Section Eight ProductionsSection Eight Productions was a production company founded in 2000 by film director Steven Soderbergh and film actor George Clooney. It produced the critical hits Far From Heaven, Insomnia, Syriana, A Scanner Darkly and Michael Clayton, as well as Clooney-directed films Confessions of a Dangerous...
, Village Roadshow PicturesVillage Roadshow Pictures is an Australian motion picture production company. It is a division of Village Roadshow, an Australian entertainment company. It makes most of its films for Warner Bros. Pictures.-Films:...
, producer Andrew LazarAndrew Lazar is an American film producer and graduate of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.-Filmography:*Assassins *Unforgettable *Bound *10 Things I Hate About You...
's Mad Chance, Allied FilmmakersAllied Filmmakers is a British film production company, founded by Jake Eberts in London in 1985.- Production filmography :*Confessions of a Dangerous Mind *The Legend of Bagger Vance *Chicken Run...
and The Kushner-Locke CompanyThe Kushner-Locke Company is an independent film company in America, named after its founders Donald Kushner and Peter Locke. It was founded in 1983, and is known for films such as The Adventures of Pinocchio, But I'm a Cheerleader, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and the animated version of The...
. Clooney explained, "I thought if I came on board as a director, for scale, and was able to bring everybody else on inexpensively, if I could get the film back down to $30 million, then I was going to be able to get the film made. That was a big part of my pitch to Harvey WeinsteinHarvey Weinstein, CBE is an American film producer and movie studio chairman. He is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films...
at Miramax."
"I was upset by the fact that Clooney took the movie from me and then cut me out after that. I'm unhappy with the end result. And I’m unhappy with George Clooney. I had a movie that I wrote and that isn't it. I've always been involved in the process with Spike JonzeSpike Jonze is an American director of music videos and commercials, and a director and producer in film and television, most notably the 1999 film Being John Malkovich and the 2002 film Adaptation., both written by Charlie Kaufman, as well as 2009's Where the Wild Things Are...
and Michel GondryMichel Gondry, born May 8, 1963, is a French film, commercial and music video director and an Academy Award-winning screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène.- Biography :...
. If there’s any rewriting to do, I do it. But with Clooney it was different even the end of the movie is different. I mean, Clooney went on forever about how my Confessions screenplay was one of the greatest scripts he’d read. But if someone truthfully felt that way they they’d want the person who wrote it to be onboard offering their thoughts and criticisms. But Clooney didn’t. And I think it’s a silly way to be a director." |
| — Writer Charlie Kaufman |
Because Confessions was his directing debut, Clooney took inspiration from friends Steven SoderberghSteven Andrew Soderbergh is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and an Academy Award-winning film director...
and the Coen brothersJoel Coen and Ethan Coen, known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers. For more than twenty years, the pair have written and directed numerous successful films, ranging from screwball comedies to hardboiled thrillers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, known together...
for his filmmaking style. Writer Charlie KaufmanCharles Stuart "Charlie" Kaufman is an Academy Award-, BAFTA-, and Independent Spirit Award-winning American screenwriter, producer, and director...
said he was dissatisfied with the way Clooney treated the screenplay. "I spent a lot of time working on the script," he explained, "but I don't think he was interested in the things I was interested in. I've moved on and I don't have any animosity towards Clooney, but it's a movie I don't really relate to." Clooney acknowledged that Kaufman's original script contained "really funky scenes that would never reach the greenlight of being a studio film." A drug addictionDrug addiction is a pathological condition which arises due to frequent drug use. The disorder of addiction involves the progression of acute drug use to the development of drug-seeking behavior, the vulnerability to relapse, and the decreased, slowed ability to respond to naturally rewarding stimuli...
subplot was removed based on Barris' request for historical authenticity.
Clooney was adamant that Barris become heavily involved during production in an attempt to portray the film from his point of view. Barris was so enthusiastic with Clooney's work on the film that he began writing Bad Grass Never Dies (ISBN 978-0786713790), the sequel to Confessions; Miramax also owns the film rights to Bad Grass. Barris filmed cameo appearanceA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television. Short appearances by film directors, politicians, athletes, musicians, and other celebrities are common. These roles are generally small, and...
s of himself during the shoot in Canada and taped a voice-overVoice-over is a production technique where a non-diegetic voice is broadcast live or pre-recorded in radio, television, film, theatre and/or presentation....
in Clooney's house.
When asked about Barris' claim of being a CIA assassin, Clooney commented, "I don't know how much I believed it. I didn't want to officially ask him, because I didn't want him to say, 'I made it up.' I wanted to tell the story and I thought, how interesting if it was all made up, why someone as wealthy and as successful as Chuck Barris, would have to do that. I thought that was an interesting person to explore, and that's what we wanted to do with the film." Clooney acknowledged that his upbringing with father Nick ClooneyNicholas Clooney is an American journalist, anchorman and game show host, as well as a politician from the state of Kentucky...
had a great bearing on his choice of depicting the 1960/70s game showA game show is a type of television program in which members of the public or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving problems usually for money and/or prizes. On some shows contestants compete against other players or another team while...
s. "My father had a game show when I was growing up called The Money Maze. I know what those sets look like. I showed the guy how to do cue cardCue cards, also known as note cards, are cards with words written on them that help actors and speakers remember what they have to say. They are typically used in television broadcasts where they can be held off-camera and are unseen by the audience...
s. I grew up on them," the director reflected, "and knew what it looked like and smelled like. And I know something about some of the trappings of fame, so I thought I had a unique take on it."
Casting
Casting the lead role of Chuck Barris was a long, difficult process. "After two months of screen testA screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film and/or in a particular role.The performer is generally given a scene, or selected lines and actions, and instructed to perform in front of a camera to see if they are suitable...
s and everything I still wasn't able to get Sam RockwellSam Rockwell is an American actor, appearing primarily in independent films.-Early life:Rockwell was born in Daly City, California, the son of actors who divorced when he was five years old. He was raised by his father, Pete Rockwell, in San Francisco while his mother, Penny Hess, stayed behind in...
," Clooney reflected. Rockwell had always been Clooney's first choice ever since they worked together on Welcome to CollinwoodWelcome to Collinwood is a 2002 film about five small-time criminals, from the Collinwood area of Cleveland, who try to organise one last big job. The story is a remake of the 1958 Italian movie I soliti ignoti, by Mario Monicelli.The film was written and directed by Anthony Russo and Joe...
(2002). Both Clooney and Barris also believed Rockwell shared an uncanny resemblance to Barris. "I didn’t want someone too famous to play the role," the director reasoned. "In my opinion, you cannot have famous people playing famous people. It doesn’t work. Sam was the guy for the part, ready to break and hadn’t yet."
Prior to his audition, Rockwell "immersed" himself in the role by simultaneously watching episodes of The Gong ShowThe Gong Show is a parody of television variety shows. It broadcast on NBC's daytime schedule from June 14, 1976 through July 21, 1978, and in first-run syndication from 1976-1980 and 1988-1989...
in an attempt to impress the filmmakers. "I went to LA [and] did an old-fashioned screen test, like a real Scarlett O'HaraScarlett O'Hara is the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and in the later film of the same name...
-type screen test, which you know they don't really do anymore," the actor remembered. For research, Rockwell spent two-and-a-half-months with Barris. "We went to coffee shops and dinner and movies, took walks, went to the zoo, I even filmed him," Rockwell explained. "I had him tape my lines in a tape recorder, and I listened to that to get his voice down."
Clooney cast Julia RobertsJulia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became well known during the early 1990s after starring in the romantic comedy Pretty Woman opposite Richard Gere, which grossed $463 million worldwide...
as the mysterious CIA agent Patricia Watson due to their positive working relationship in Ocean's ElevenOcean's Eleven is a 2001 remake of the 1960 Rat Pack caper film of the same name. The 2001 film was directed by Steven Soderbergh and features an ensemble cast. The film was a success at the box office and with critics. Soderbergh directed two sequels, Ocean's Twelve in 2004 and Ocean's Thirteen in...
(2001). Her role was originally set for Nicole KidmanNicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, fashion model, singer and humanitarian. In 2006, Kidman was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia's highest civilian honour. In 2006, she was also the highest-paid actress in the motion picture industry.Kidman's...
, who dropped out over scheduling conflicts with The HoursThe Hours is a 2002 American & British drama film directed by Stephen Daldry, and starring Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Ed Harris. The screenplay by David Hare is based on the 1999 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same title by Michael Cunningham.The plot focuses on three...
. After Rockwell's casting Confessions was once again briefly postponed; Miramax did not greenlightTo greenlight a project is to give permission or a go ahead to move forward with a project. In the context of the movie and TV businesses, to greenlight something is to formally approve its production finance, thereby allowing the project to move forward from the development phase to pre-production...
the film until Roberts signed on. Clooney commented, "Julia really helped me. Her doing the part made it possible for me to cast Sam Rockwell. He can't drive a $28 million film, but Julia certainly can." Renee ZellwegerRenée Kathleen Zellweger is an American actress and producer. Zellweger first gained widespread attention for her role in the film Jerry Maguire , and subsequently received two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her roles as Bridget Jones in the comedy Bridget Jones's Diary ...
and Gwyneth PaltrowGwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress.The daughter of Bruce Paltrow and Blythe Danner, Paltrow dropped out of her university to follow an acting career. She began her career in theatre in 1990, and made her film debut the following year...
were considered for the Penny Pacino role, which eventually went to Drew BarrymoreDrew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film producer and film director. She is the youngest member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was eleven months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...
.
Miramax was unsure of Clooney's decision to cast Rockwell over other famous actors such as Robert Downey, Jr. and Ben StillerBenjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
. Clooney convinced the studio into giving him the right of final cut privilegeFinal cut privilege is a film industry term usually used when a director has contractual authority over how a film is ultimately released for public viewing. On nearly all occasions, only established and bankable directors are given such a privilege Final cut privilege is a film industry term...
and casting Rockwell in exchange for first look dealA first look deal is an arrangement, usually in the film industry, where either a company or in some cases an individual enters into a commercial agreement with a studio under which they must allow the studio the right of first refusal in relation to developing and/or producing a project the...
s on Full FrontalFull Frontal is a 2002 film by Steven Soderbergh, about a day in the life of people in Hollywood. The film stars Catherine Keener, David Duchovny, Julia Roberts, and Mary McCormack and was shot on digital video in under a month using the Canon XL-1s...
(2002) and other low-budget films from Clooney's Section Eight ProductionsSection Eight Productions was a production company founded in 2000 by film director Steven Soderbergh and film actor George Clooney. It produced the critical hits Far From Heaven, Insomnia, Syriana, A Scanner Darkly and Michael Clayton, as well as Clooney-directed films Confessions of a Dangerous...
. Clooney also agreed to cameo in Miramax's Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002) so Rockwell could be cast. To accommodate the $30 million budget, Clooney convinced Roberts and Barrymore to lower their asking prices.
Filming
Under Clooney's direction, filming was initially set to begin in September 2001, but principal photography did not start until January 14, 2002. From January-March 2002, production for Confessions of a Dangerous Mind took place primarily in CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
and MontrealMontreal is the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie , the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the...
. The Playboy MansionThe Playboy Mansion , is in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles, California and is the home of Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner. The address is 10236 Charing Cross Rd., Los Angeles, CA 90024...
scene was shot in early-April at Los Angeles, California; the remainder two weeks of production took place around the Mexico – United States border. Filming for Confessions ended in late-April 2002.
Clooney and cinematographerA cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
Newton Thomas SigelNewton Thomas Sigel is an American cinematographer who mainly works with Bryan Singer. His father, Irving Sigel, was a noted psychologist who worked for the Educational Testing Service.-Filmography:*Latino *Into the West...
used various techniques when portraying the different decades of a Barris' life. "We thought in order to go back in time, most people remember things through film," Clooney reasoned. "I don't remember the 1950s - I wasn't around for them - I know the 50s through TechnicolorTechnicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation , now a division of Thomson SA. Technicolor was the second major color film process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color motion picture process in Hollywood...
. Not Technicolor as it was shot, but Technicolor as it has faded now." The filmmakers studied various films and magazine issues of that decade for inspiration on the color palette. Racking focusRacking focus is the practice of shifting the attention of a viewer of a film or video by changing the focus of the lens from a subject in the foreground to a subject in the background, or vice versa...
es were highly stylized for scenes set in the 1960s, similar to the Spaghetti WesternSpaghetti Western, also known in some countries in mainland Europe as the Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western film that emerged in the mid-1960s, so named because most were produced and directed by Italians, usually in co-production with a Spanish partner.The typical team...
s of that era. Hand-held cameraHand-held camera or hand-held shooting is a film and video technique in which a camera is literally held in the camera-operator's hands--as opposed to being placed on a tripod. The result is an image that is perceptibly shakier than that of a tripod-mounted camera.-Early usage:Hand-held camera was...
s were used for scenes set in the 1970s, a homageHomage is pronounced variously as , , or . The last reflects the modern French pronunciation, although the word entered Middle English many centuries ago. In traditional usage it is analogous to praise; one properly speaks of homage or the homage, rather than a homage or an homage...
to the films of Sidney LumetSidney Lumet is an American film director, with over 50 films to his name, including 12 Angry Men , Serpico , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict , all of which, except for Serpico , earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Director.According to The Encyclopedia of Hollywood,...
, Mike NicholsMike Nichols is an American television, stage and film director, writer, and producer. Nichols is one of only ten people to have won all the major American entertainment awards: an Oscar, Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award.-Early years:...
and Alan J. PakulaAlan Jay Pakula was an American film director, writer and producer noted for his contributions to the conspiracy thriller genre.-Career:...
, primarily KluteKlute is a 1971 film which tells the story of a prostitute who assists a detective in solving a mystery. It stars Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi, Dorothy Tristan, Vivian Nathan, and Roy Scheider. The movie was written by Andy Lewis and Dave Lewis and directed by Alan J...
(1971), Carnal KnowledgeCarnal knowledge is an archaic or legal euphemism for sexual intercourse.-Etymology:The word "carnal" derives from Latin carnalis, meaning "fleshly", and the word "knowledge" in this phrase derives from the "Biblical sense" of "to know", which means "to have sexual intercourse with"...
(1971) and The Parallax ViewThe Parallax View is a 1974 American thriller film directed by Alan J. Pakula and starring Warren Beatty, who was also a producer. The film was adapted by David Giler, Lorenzo Semple Jr and an uncredited Robert Towne from the 1970 novel by Loren Singer...
(1974) All That JazzAll That Jazz is a 1979 American musical film directed by Bob Fosse. The screenplay by Robert Alan Aurthur and Fosse is a semi-autobiographical fantasy based on aspects of the dancer, choreographer, and director's life and career. The film was inspired by Fosse's manic effort to edit his film Lenny...
also influenced Clooney's direction.
Clooney commented that post-productionPost-production is part of the filmmaking process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, videos, audio recordings, photography and digital art...
for Confessions was stressful because he was simultaneously acting in SolarisSolaris is a 2002 science fiction film directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring George Clooney.It is based on the science fiction novel by Polish writer Stanisław Lem .-Plot:Chris Kelvin is played by George Clooney and Rheya by Natascha McElhone...
(2002).
Release
To tie-inA tie-in is an authorized product based on a media property a company is releasing, such as a movie or video/DVD, computer game, video game, television program/television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property...
with the release of the film adaptation, Miramax BooksMiramax Books was a publishing imprint started by Bob and Harvey Weinstein of Miramax Films. It published the memoirs of many major celebrities, including David Boies, Madeline Albright, Rudolph Giuliani, Tim Russert, and others...
republished Chuck Barris' 1984 book. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind premiered as a "non-competition" film at the May 2002 Cannes Film FestivalThe 2002 Cannes Film Festival started on May 15 and ran until May 26. The Palme d'Or went to the Polish-French-German-British co-produced film The Pianist directed by Roman Polanski.-Awards :Feature films...
before Miramax FilmsMiramax Films is the art-house/independent film division of The Walt Disney Company, and acts as both producer and distributor for its own films or foreign films....
gave Confessions a limited releaseLimited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
in the United States on December 31, 2002; the wide releaseWide release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing nationally...
came on January 23, 2003. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was a box office bombThe phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue retained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
, largely due to competition from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Catch Me If You CanCatch Me If You Can is a 2002 comedy-drama crime film based on the life of Frank Abagnale Jr., who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars by posing as a Pan American World Airways pilot, a Georgia doctor and Louisiana attorney and parish prosecutor...
and ChicagoChicago is a American film adaptation of the satirical stage musical Chicago, the film explores the themes of celebrity and scandal in Jazz age Chicago. Directed and choreographed by Rob Marshall, and adapted for film by screenwriter Bill Condon, Chicago won six Academy Awards in 2003, including...
. The final gross figures for the film had a $16 million run in the US and $17.01 coming from foreign markets. The worldwide total came to $33.01 million. Confessions also suffered through poor sales with its September 2003 Region 1 DVDDVD region codes are a DRM technique designed to allow motion picture studios to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and, price; according to the region...
release. The DVD includes over 20 minutes of deleted sceneDeleted scene is a commonly-used term in the entertainment industry, especially the film and television industry, which usually refers specifically to scenes removed from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film...
s, Rockwell's three screen testA screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film and/or in a particular role.The performer is generally given a scene, or selected lines and actions, and instructed to perform in front of a camera to see if they are suitable...
s, a short documentary titled The Real Chuck Barris, Clooney's audio commentaryOn disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
and a making-ofIn cinema, a making of, also known as behind the scenes, is a documentary film that features the production of a film or television show. This is often referred to as the EPK video, due to its main usage as a promotional tool, either concurrent with theatrical release or as a bonus feature for the...
featurette.
However, the film received respectful responses from critics. Based on 152 reviews collected by Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films. The name derives from the historical cliché of throwing tomatoes and other produce at stage performers if a performance was particularly bad.- History :...
, 78% of the reviewers enjoyed Confessions of a Dangerous Mind with an average rating of 7.1/10. The film was more balanced with the 30 reviews in Rotten Tomatoes "Top Critics" poll, receiving an 83% approval rating and a 7.4 score. By comparison, MetacriticMetacritic is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
calculated an average score of 67/100, based on 33 reviews. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was shown at the Berlin International Film FestivalThe Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
on February 10, 2003. Sam Rockwell won the Silver Bear for Best ActorThe Silver Bear for Best Actor is the Berlin International Film Festival's award for achievement in performance by an actor.- Awards :- External links :*...
and George Clooney was nominated the Golden BearAccording to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....
, but lost to Michael WinterbottomMichael Winterbottom is a prolific British filmmaker who has directed sixteen films in the past thirteen years. He began his career working in British television before moving into features...
of In This WorldIn This World is a 2002 British docudrama directed by Michael Winterbottom. The film follows two young Afghan refugees, Jamal Udin Torabi and Enayatullah, as they leave a refugee camp in Pakistan for a better life in London. Since their journey is illegal, it is fraught with danger, and they must...
.
Roger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter.He is known for his film review column and for two television programs Sneak Previews and Siskel & Ebert at the Movies, which he co-hosted for a combined 23 years with Gene Siskel...
gave Confessions of a Dangerous Mind a positive review. "George Clooney's directorial debut is not only intriguing as a story but great to look at," Ebert continued, "a marriage of bright pop images from the 1960s and 1970s and dark, cold spyscapes that seem to have wandered in from John le CarréJohn le Carré is an English author of espionage novels, several of which have been adapted for film and television...
." Peter TraversPeter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
of Rolling Stone magazine believed the film carried a perfect balance of dark humor and psychological drama. "Clooney tackles a far-reaching absurdist fantasy with Barris as a paradigmThe word paradigm has been used in linguistics and science to describe distinct concepts....
of paranoia," Travers reviewed. "He wisely hooks up with talent he worked with as an actor: cinematographer Newton Thomas SigelNewton Thomas Sigel is an American cinematographer who mainly works with Bryan Singer. His father, Irving Sigel, was a noted psychologist who worked for the Educational Testing Service.-Filmography:*Latino *Into the West...
, from Three KingsThree Kings is a 1999 satirical war drama film written and directed by David O. Russell from a story by John Ridley about a gold heist in the style of Kelly's Heroes. It takes place during the 1991 Iraqi uprising against Saddam Hussein following the end of the first Persian Gulf War.The film stars...
(1999) and editor Stephen MirrioneStephen Mirrione is an American film editor. He won an Academy Award for his editing of the film Traffic ....
from Ocean's ElevenOcean's Eleven is a 2001 remake of the 1960 Rat Pack caper film of the same name. The 2001 film was directed by Steven Soderbergh and features an ensemble cast. The film was a success at the box office and with critics. Soderbergh directed two sequels, Ocean's Twelve in 2004 and Ocean's Thirteen in...
(2001)."
Mick LaSalleMick LaSalle is an American film critic currently writing for the San Francisco Chronicle and the author of two books on pre-code Hollywood. As of March 2008, he has written in excess of 1550 reviews , and he has been podcasting them since September 2005...
from the San Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireSan Francisco Chronicle is Northern California's largest newspaper, and one of the largest in the United States, serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area, but distributed throughout...
wrote that "there may be more entertaining and less problematic movies, but Confessions of a Dangerous Mind has something about it that hangs in there, working on the mind like a dog gnawing on a table leg. The movie makes a case for itself through sheer oddness and perversity. I'm not sure Confessions is a good movie, but I am sure I like it." Owen GleibermanOwen Gleiberman is an American film critic for Entertainment Weekly, a position he has held since the magazine's launch in 1990. From 1981–89, he worked at the Boston Phoenix....
, writing in Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books and popular culture. Unlike celebrity-focused publications US Weekly, People, and In Touch Weekly, EWs primary concentration is on entertainment...
, observed that "Sam Rockwell is handsome in a rumpled, slightly goofy rabbit-toothed way, but he doesn't really have the look, or aura, of a movie starA movie star is a celebrity who is well-known, or famous, for his or her starring, or leading, roles in motion pictures. The term may also apply to an actor or actress who is recognized as a marketable commodity and whose name is used to promote a movie in trailers and posters...
," Glieberman stated. "He's more like a weirdly sincere space cadet, babbling to himself with puppyish befuddlement, breaking into funky soft dance moves that look as if he's been doing them in his bedroom since he was 8. All of which makes him an inspired choice to play Chuck Barris."
Kenneth TuranKenneth Turan is an American film critic and Lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California.-Background:...
of the Los Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California since 1881. It is distributed throughout the Western United States. It is the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States and the fourth-most widely distributed newspaper in the United States...
gave a negative review. He disliked the characterization of Chuck Barris and commented that "with its multiplicity of over-stylized looks and slick gimmicks, Dangerous Mind was doubtless more stimulating to direct than it will be for audiences to experience." Internet reviewer James BerardinelliJames Berardinelli is an American online film critic.-Biography:Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and spent his early childhood in Morristown. At the age of nine, he moved to Cherry Hill. He attended the University of Pennsylvania from 1985 through 1990, obtaining both a BS and...
wrote a mixed critique. "George Clooney is eager to show how much he has learned at the hands of the A-list filmmakers he has toiled under. So we get a style that is about 50% Steven SoderberghSteven Andrew Soderbergh is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and an Academy Award-winning film director...
and 50% Coen brothersJoel Coen and Ethan Coen, known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers. For more than twenty years, the pair have written and directed numerous successful films, ranging from screwball comedies to hardboiled thrillers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, known together...
. Sometimes it works, but mostly it comes across as too artsy, with all sorts of bizarre angles and unusual shots."
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