ArthouseSchmarthouse’s review published on Letterboxd:
4
Blu Ray
The primary reason why Confessions of a Dangerous Mind doesn't work is because George Clooney is fundamentally the wrong filmmaker to tell this particular story. This is because he and Sam Rockwell play the tall tales of Chuck Barris completely straight; therefore what could- and should- be a fascinating examination of the truthfullness (or otherwise) of Barris' more outlandish, unevidenced claims is instead presented as a dark-comedy caper that largely accepts the truth of his tale at face value (compare and contrast with, say, I, Tonya, which was very effective in its use of the unreliable narrator device). The film is also guilty of finding Barris considerably more charming and interesting than he actually presents: to me, he just came across as a bit of a misogynistic bore, not someone I could really root for in any way. Even where a vaguely antagonistic argument is put forward- his corrosive impact on moral standards in television, for example- it is not lingered upon or examined in any detail.
In accordance with this tone, Clooney keeps his direction lighthearted and breezy; whilst there are some nice stylistic touches (montages taking place without a cut and within the same cinematic space, for example), there are some baffling decisions which I found very distracting, for instance almost every outdoor scene is weirdly overlit. Overall, a really disappointing, rather boring film.
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_91f66569-8556-4557-ab6c-fade2299f7c7" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-91f66569-8556-4557-ab6c-fade2299f7c7'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div -tile300x250 -alignleft -bottommargin'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'med_rect_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-91f66569-8556-4557-ab6c-fade2299f7c7'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-91f66569-8556-4557-ab6c-fade2299f7c7'));
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_382a2988-9eb9-454f-ba93-2a3bfc8dab85" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-382a2988-9eb9-454f-ba93-2a3bfc8dab85'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'sky_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-382a2988-9eb9-454f-ba93-2a3bfc8dab85'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-382a2988-9eb9-454f-ba93-2a3bfc8dab85'));
