Chuck Barris: I just want you to know that I hate myself. Goddamn...I hate myself.
Patricia: Nietzsche says whoever despises oneself still respects oneself as one who despises.
Chuck: Shit..I never thought of that. I could despise myself and be insane.
Patricia: Insane asylums are filled with people who think themselves as Jesus or Satan. Very few have delusions of being the guy down the block who works for an insurance company.
Chuck: Well, I wanted to be a writer, a writer that some lesser person would quote. I never did. I'm the lesser person I suppose.....I'm disposable. I dispose off people and I'm disposable.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is the autobiographical account of Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell), the TV show presenter who came up with the original ideas of The Dating Game, The Gong Show, etc. As the movie progresses, we see real people who worked alongside him for the ABC network commenting on his personality & his activities, with most of them agreeing that he probably wasn't a happy man. His greatest enemy was his inability to take criticism. A man who had set himself higher standards since childhood and constantly failed to achieve them, it was obvious he would be affected when critics said he was solely responsible for lowering the standards of television. While some of his friends felt that he had a knack for knowing what people want, it was sad that he didn't see it that way. We see that in a scene where a girl in the swimming pool asks him what has he achieved to be making fun of poor people who want their few minutes of fame on a TV show, an obvious reference to The Gong Show.
Alongside his struggle, rise and fall on TV, we see him leading a double life as a CIA agent. Followed by a man named Jim Byrd (George Clooney), he is recruited as an independent contractor for the CIA where they use his game shows as the perfect cover for his international trips to communist countries where Chuck is supposed to complete his assignments. The only good thing in his life came in the form of Penny (Drew Barrymore), his lifelong friend and lover.
Nothing else could have brought about the confluence of greater minds - direction by George Clooney, screenplay by Charlie Kaufman and of course, the book by Chuck Barris. When it comes to life's unrealized dreams and disappointments, who better than Charlie Kaufman to handle it. Some very original and brilliant dialogues strewn throughout the movie such as the opening lines or the one by Jim, "You're 32 years old, and you've achieved nothing. Jesus Christ was dead and alive again by 33. You better get crackin'." Sam Rockwell is as usual brilliant in this role while Drew Barrymore's Penny is the one that adds the sweetness to it.
When I first watched this movie, I thought why didn't I get this idea first, i.e. of making a claim that I'm a secret agent. It's a full-proof way of getting famous - a truth/delusion that can't be proven one way or the other. Maybe it was Chuck's way of mocking his audience by creating a story that would make people mock at him, which would actually help his cause. It's what Nassim Taleb calls as the "anti-fragile theory" in his new book and gives an analogy of how a Greek mythological creature, Hydra, works. If you cut one head, two grow back. Harm is what it likes. Similarly, bad press or mockery can be sometimes good for an author....Or, If his account is true, I can only envy the excitement of leading a double life while getting to kill 33 people for the sake of your country and walking away scot-free. Not that I care much about patriotism, but I sure as hell would love to know "30 ways of killing a man with a single blow". (Disclaimer: Any RAW agents reading this, please don't take me seriously. I'm just kidding. I DO NOT fit the profile).
Rating: 8/10
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