Product Details

• Format: AC-3, Blu-ray, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Miramax Lionsgate
• DVD Release Date: November 1, 2011
• Run Time: 114 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (138 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B005I0DV8A
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,958 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The memoirs of game-show creator-host Chuck Barris (the man responsible for The Newlywed Game and The Gong Show) are the inspiration for this sneaky biopic, which not only covers Barris's television career, but also his exploits--unsubstantiated, but also not disproved--as a government assassin. As Barris, Sam Rockwell gives a gutsy, manic-depressive, warts-and-all performance, depicting how Barris cheated repeatedly on his longtime girlfriend Penny (Drew Barrymore), was recruited into the CIA by a stone-faced agent (George Clooney, who also makes a stylish directorial debut), created some of the most popular yet reviled TV shows of the 1970s and '80s, and had a torrid affair with a mysterious, beautiful operative (Julia Roberts). For a screenplay by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is pretty straightforward, letting Barris's fevered brain speak for itself. The result manages to be lurid, comic, and oddly philosophical. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

George Clooney (Ocean's Thirteen, Up in the Air) makes his directorial debut and stars alongside Drew Barrymore (He's Just Not That Into You), Sam Rockwell (Iron Man 2) and Julia Roberts (Eat Pray Love) in the comedy thriller that poses an irresistible question: What would happen if a wildly successful TV producer was also a top secret CIA assassin? While a maverick creator of America's favorite game shows gains notoriety for his smash television hits, he is also drawn into a shadowy world of danger as a covert government operative! But soon his double life begins to spiral out of control. Based on Chuck Barris's cult classic autobiography, this entertaining comedy is a killer hit!

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 66 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Who's the mole? December 22, 2002

By Joseph Haschka TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Close on the heels of his ADAPTATION, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman scores again with CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND, based on the (fictional?) autobiography of the same title by Chuck Barris. It's also George Clooney's initial outing as Director.

At the very beginning when the audience sees a bearded and naked Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell) standing as if in a trance while a frumpy housekeeper vacuums around him, the viewer suspects that the film will be something special, outrageous, or both. This is the starting point for an extended flashback as Barris recalls his young adulthood, when it seemed everybody but him was having sex, to his successful career as a TV game show creator and low-brow polluter of the American airwaves ("The Dating Game", "The Newlywed Game", "The Gong Show"). Pretty standard stuff except that along the way Barris is seduced by a penchant for violence into a double life as a CIA contract killer, and the schizophrenia brought on by his double life almost proves his undoing.

Rockwell is superb in the leading role, as is Director Clooney, who plays his square-jawed, no-nonsense CIA recruiter and control, Jim Byrd. (Byrd to Barris: "Listen, you're thirty-two years old and you've achieved nothing. Jesus Christ was dead and alive again by thirty-three. Better get cracking.") Drew Barrymore does a swell job as Penny, the on-again, off-again love of Chuck's life, but she's deliciously upstaged by Julia Roberts in a new sort of character for her, that of the seductive and deadly femme fatale spy, Patricia. ("Prove how much you love me, baby. Kill for me. Then I'm all yours".) Brad Pitt and Matt Damon have hilarious two-second cameos on stools.... And there's one scene where a Federal official lectures The Dating Game contestants on the dire repercussions of introducing risqué material into their game show appearance that alone is worth the price of admission. I don't know who that actor was, but he deserves an Oscar for a one-minute speech.

This is a movie that perhaps has to be seen twice to be fully appreciated for the deft and clever use of camera perspective, scene and timing changes, and almost-overexposed color, all of which keeps the audience on its toes wondering what's coming next. And the Big Question: who's The Mole?

This is one of the best dark comedies that I've seen in a long while. It's one of the must-see films of 2002/2003. Bravo, bravo! Read more ›

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Funny, Star-Packed, and Deeply Disturbed Romp April 3, 2007

By Greg Robertson VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

A movie that combines "Ocean's Eleven" stars and a core storyline from "A Beautiful Mind" with the TV progenitor of Simon Cowell? It seems unlikely, as does much of the book this film's script was based on, yet it all comes together well in a very weird, but hilarious piece of entertainment.

Sam Rockwell is dead-on as game show producer Chuck Barris, who created not only two staples of American television mediocrity (The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game), but also the "American Idol" of the 1970s -- The Gong Show. The only differences between Barris' production and today's "Idol" are that Barris featured ONLY bad wanna-bes, so there were no recording contracts and such offered, and his judges were a lot funnier, as was he. Of course, viewers were different back then, too, in that they didn't know what to make of a show on which struggling "talent" were verbally abused. Today, that's half of Idol's viewership. In any case, Rockwell's portrayal of him is perfect.

Equally good are Drew Barrymore, as Barris' on-again, off-again, on-again love interest, George Clooney as Barris' supposed CIA handler, and fellow assassin Julia Roberts. In fact, Barrymore is considerably better here than in most of her roles. The appearance of Rutger Hauer also made me laugh, especially given the tough guy roles he used to play. And cameos by Brad Pitt and Matt Damon are priceless.

As for the "A Beautiful Mind" reference, Barris' assertion that he served as a CIA assassin during that period is so absurd that it immediately made me think of the Russell Crowe/Jennifer Connelly film's delusional spy sequences.... It's also fitting considering that the central message of Barris' book is that it is immensely painful to have a brilliant mind in early life, yet end up wasting it on developing cheap fodder like "The Dating Game." (Pretty much the story of American televison in general.)

Don't get me wrong -- this is NOT a movie classic. Still, Barris is such a weird yet bright man that the film is fun throughout. And its depiction of this period of TV-making in America is funny, believable, and all too insightful as to how we ended up with the flood of "reality" and game shows that pollute our TV screens today. The film blames Barris, because he did himself, but it's the networks that pushed and paid for this dreck, and still do.

If you have an absurdist bone in your body, you'll at least get several laughs out of this. Enjoy. Read more ›

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Barely three stars. February 6, 2003

By Maine Writer VINE™ VOICE

...What is good about this movie is that it tries hard to be iconoclastic and gritty. And, no question, this is a warts, warts, and more warts portrayal of the money-grubbing, narcissistic creep who brought us such fine entertainments as the Dating Game, the Newlywed Game, and the Gong Show. As our culture sinks lower and lower into the pit of schlock TV, Chuck Barris was nothing if not incomprehensibly boorish before it became a mainstream thing. Remember, he was a sick slickster before Robert Bork fell face down drunk in his yard, before Bill Clinton tickled himself while an intern got to know a cigar, before Survivor and Bachelor and all the horrendous exploitation television that has so captured the American imagination.

The story is a familiar one of materialism and lust leading to physical and emotional self-destruction and despair. And that's part of the problem. Chuck Barris is an awful and unsympathetic human being whose descent into the gutter--we finally see him grizzled and morose at the very end--is anything but appealling. Sam Rockwell is a terrific actor who probably has captured Barris' empty soul, but there's only so much time you want to spend with the man.

Julia Roberts is adequate in her performance (looking quite unattractive in the process), as does George Clooney--who looks like a poor man's Tom Selleck as a mysterious CIA man. And Drew Barrymore mails in the same character she's played in every one of her films.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A dazzling directorial debut from Clooney September 3, 2003

By FairiesWearBoots8272

Format:DVD

George Clooney is a fine actor and he has done excellent work in the past. However, when I heard that Clooney was going to direct, I was a bit apprehensive. There are actors who have done great work as directors (Orson Welles, Robert Redford, Mel Gibson, Clint Eastwood), yet George Clooney did not strike me as one who would excel as a director. Then along comes Confessions of a Dangerous Mind to convince me otherwise. Working from a screenplay by the always-great Charlie Kaufman (scribe of Adaptation), Clooney has constructed a fabulous film that succeeds in just about every way.

Clooney has the benefit of an intriguing story, based on the book by Gong Show host Chuck Barris, a great script and a fantastic cast. Sam Rockwell is a fine actor, and Confessions is probably his best work to date. Rockwell carries the movie; A daunting task, but he succeeds admirably. He brings humanity and sadness to his character and even makes him somewhat sympathetic. Hopefully he will be getting better and better parts after this one. Drew Barrymore is great as Barris' sort-of girlfriend, Clooney himself appears as the CIA recruiter who's interested in Barris, and Julia Roberts shows up as a fellow operative. George Clooney has learned much from his friend Steven Soderbergh and brings an astute sense of visual style to the film. Clooney really deserves credit for an exceptional filmmaking job.

Whether or not Barris' story is true is really not of concern to me. Even if it's all fiction, then it made for a remarkable story anyway. It will give viewers something to debate after seeing the film. The real Chuck Barris shows up for a cameo at the end, in a very touching and sad moment. Indeed there's a strong element of sadness to the story as Barris realizes what he has been and what he could have been.... "I'm doomed to hell" he writes. And not just for being the one responsible for The Gong Show.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was overlooked at the box office when it opened back in January. Perhaps it was the fact that George Clooney and Julia Roberts were only in small parts that kept people away. Or perhaps people were scared away by Charlie Kaufman's name, knowing it would likely be "weird". It's a shame though, because those people missed one of most unique and enjoyable films of the year. It's perhaps not for all tastes, but for those who enjoy quirky films beyond the usual Hollywood dreck, Confessions will be highly enjoyable.

Hopefully with the upcoming DVD release, this wonderful film will find its audience and will be appreciated for years to come. Read more ›