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Chuck Barris, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
"Life was sweet... For a minute."
On tiny Hornby Island northwest of Vancouver, after the Women’s World Cup in the summer of 2015, our bed-and-breakfast host was telling us a
Chuck Barris Productions
1979
The many faces of Sam in one single movie // A totally mesmerizing and intense performance by Sam Rockwell as Chuck Barris, in the criminally underrated movie Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (Dir. George Clooney, 2002). Could not take my eyes off the screen for a second.
- Who is that, Carlyle? * No, it's the Old Testament... It's god. - It's amazing you should quote him. He's my hero. [Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, 2002]
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind premiered in Westwood, CA on 11 December 2002.
Chuck Barris sold the rights of his “unauthorized autobiography” in the late 1980s and was slated for production until Dawn Steel was fired as President of Columbia Pictures in 1989. Warner Bros. bought the rights in 1997 and Charlie Kaufman was hired to write the screenplay. A number of directors (including Darren Aronofsky, Brian De Palma, David Fincher, Curtis Hanson, and Sam Mendes) and actors (Russell Crowe, Mike Myers, Edward Norton, Sean Penn, and Kevin Spacey) were attached to the project until Bryan Singer was hired to direct with Ben Stiller cast as Barris. Stiller had to leave due to commitments to Zoolander and The Royal Tenenbaums, and Singer eventually had to leave due to his commitment to X2. Production was eventually saved when George Clooney not only agreed to direct (his debut as director), but also to provide financial support for the film, and agree to the $30 million budget.
Clooney worked closely with Barris on the film, but not with Kaufman (”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” Kaufman said about the film. “I had a movie that I wrote and that isn't it.”).
Clooney always wanted Sam Rockwell to play Barris, but the studio did not agree until Clooney convinced Julia Roberts to play a part.
Despite mostly positive reviews, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was a modest box office success. Sam Rockwell received the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin International Film Festival.
