Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (film)

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	George Clooney
Screenplay by	Charlie Kaufman
Based on	Confessions of a Dangerous Mind by Chuck Barris
Produced by	Andrew Lazar
Starring	Drew Barrymore George Clooney Julia Roberts Sam Rockwell Rutger Hauer
Cinematography	Newton Thomas Sigel
Edited by	Stephen Mirrione
Music by	Alex Wurman
Production companies	Mad Chance Section Eight Mel's Cite du Cinema JVS & Co.
Distributed by	Miramax Films
Release date	December 31, 2002 (2002-12-31) (United States)
Running time	113 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30 million
Box office	$33.1 million

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is a 2002 American biographical spy film depicting the fictional life of game show host and producer Chuck Barris. The film was George Clooney's directorial debut, was written by Charlie Kaufman and starred Sam Rockwell as Barris, as well as Julia Roberts, Drew Barrymore, and Clooney. It is based on Barris's 1984 "unauthorized autobiography" of the same name, in which he claimed to have been an assassin for the CIA in addition to his show business career. These allegations have been denied by the CIA,^[2] while Barris throughout his life generally refused to say whether the claim was true or not.^[3]

The film had a long development process. Columbia Pictures briefly planned to produce a film adaptation in the late 1980s, to be directed by Jim McBride. The film rights were purchased in 1997 by producer Andrew Lazar, who hired Kaufman to write a screenplay; the project then quickly attracted a string of well-known directors, including David Fincher, Brian De Palma and Bryan Singer, and lead actors, including Mike Myers, Ben Stiller and Johnny Depp. When Clooney was hired to direct, he brought on Barris to consult on the project in order to provide additional authenticity. This in turn led to (uncredited) rewrites on the script, which Kaufman was unhappy with, including the removal of a drug addiction subplot. Clooney also championed the casting of Rockwell, who at that point was mostly unknown. To accommodate the $30 million budget, Clooney convinced Barrymore and Roberts to lower their salaries.

The film was released to favorable reviews from critics but performed poorly at the box office. Rockwell, in particular, was praised for his acting and won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 2003 Berlin International Film Festival.