| Overall Grade: |
B+ |
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| Story: |
B |
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| Acting: |
A- |
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| Direction: |
B+ |
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| Visuals: |
A- |
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Rockwell steals the show. Surprise? I think not.
by -Voodoo- (movies profile)
Jul 30, 2006
2
of
2 people found this review helpful
Chuck Barris could be one of the leading causes of the dumbed down entertainment audiences of today. TV shows like Survivor or The Bachelor that are created for sex appeal and mind numbing entertainment, or so they call it were born from Barris. With his countless efforts to hit it big, he did it by making fools of people on none other than The Gong Show.
Barris is a dylusional mad man. A dangerous mind if you will, who wrote an unofficial autobiography named "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind". In which he confesses to his "mind-numbing puerile entertainment" and being a CIA agent by night, killing 33 people. If you haven't already guessed. His diaries of the confession is what the film is based upon.
So how do you create a film script based on a dylusion of a man living two lives? George Clooney directing can't help. His appeal and star charm definetly motivates this film in a good direction and Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine) to write the script, you can only be going in a good direction. Kaufman prepares the scipt in the best possible way, indeed, many parts of the film are lackluster, stupid, and tedious, being the only real down point to the film, but how can they not? Coming from the journal's of a mad man, there has to be faults. But Kaufman places humor in perfectly where it is needed, there are twists which Kaufman exercises to the full potential steering clear of cliches and coming out with a result you could imagine but not one you immediatly expected. Kaufman even creates surprising sympathy for Barris and how his love life struggled from two secret lives and how he became so...insane? His mother's insanity that he was a girl as a child. It is perfectly suited and emotionally powered. Clooney's direction is powerful and humorous in all the right places.
The cast themselves are great, Clooney is the hard ass recruiter who appears and disappears at the blink of an eye, Drew Barrymore in a surprisingly powerful role as the hippy, depressed girl friend, Julia Roberts in a lose, fun role as the sexy contact. But who can forget the man that steals the show from even Clooney (as he did from Nic Cage in Matchstick Men), Sam Rockwell as Barris. He's witty, funny, serious when he has to be and slick. His performance is over the top, maybe a few to many scenes of his behind but none the less Rockwell performs loosely because he has a great vibe for such a character. Hell, even the Brad Pitt and Matt Damon cameo is great. The casting is spectacular.
Most importantly is George Cloony's directorial debut. His vision makes the characters likeable. The way he sees Barris and his journals, his life story is great. The visual work here is outstanding, George creates a look that's unique, the merging scenes is dangerously unique and the way he shoots and sees makes you think, "so when's George's next big thing?" Because really, it can only go up from here. |
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