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SYNOPSIS:
Television made him famous,
but his biggest hits happened off screen. CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS
MIND is the story of a legendary showman's double life - television
producer by day, CIA assassin by night. At the height of his
TV career, Chuck Barris was recruited by the CIA and trained
to become a covert operative. The film marks George Clooney's
directorial debut and showcases the breakthrough performance
by Sam Rockwell. The film also stars Drew Barrymore, Rutger
Hauer, Clooney and Julia Roberts. Charlie Kaufman ("Being
John Malkovich") wrote the script, adapted from the cult-classic
unauthorized autobiography by Chuck Barris.
The film marks the directorial
debut of George Clooney, from a screenplay by Charlie Kaufman.
Also starring are Drew Barrymore as Barris’s girlfriend Penny,
Julia Roberts as an international operative known as Patricia,
Rutger Hauer as secret agent Keeler, and Clooney as C.I.A. agent
Jim Byrd. 17 Andrew Lazar is the film’s producer. Steven Soderbergh
is executive producing, along with Rand Ravich.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION: Confessions
of the cast and filmmakers…
One of the hottest scripts in Hollywood,
CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND caught the eye of several Hollywood
A-list players. For George Clooney, however, the reason to get
involved was clear. “I’ve never really wanted to direct, but
I loved the project and believed that I knew how to tell the
story,” states Clooney. With the confidence of his Section 8
Productions partner, Steven Soderbergh, Clooney decided to “give
it a shot.” Above all, he knew that the driving force behind
making this film would be his passion for the material. “I think
Charlie Kaufman is the best writer in town right now. This script
is a gem, and it’s an absurd story that’s fun to tell and fun
to be a part of. People just can’t believe it when they read
it.”
Clooney continues, “I’ve
asked Chuck about the specifics of the story, and he would look
me in the eyes and not say anything. I believe it is Chuck’s
story. I believe it was important for him to tell it and fun
for us because the story is so wild. There is something shockingly
fascinating about someone of his wealth and fame who would want
to say this about himself. Whether it’s true or not is in Chuck’s
head.”
MORE PRODUCTION NOTES..
Lazar hired Kaufman to adapt the
screenplay, based on two scripts he had written, “Human Nature”
and “Being John Malkovich,” the latter of which earned the writer
an Oscar nomination. Lazar says, “Charlie delivered the first
draft of CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND with a post-it note attached
that said: ‘Here it is. Hope it’s good.’ It was brilliant.” With
many false starts and several top directors and actors attached
to the project over the years, the film was finally greenlit by
Miramax, with Clooney at the helm.
For the starring role, Clooney knew
he had to find an exceptional talent, and that person was Sam
Rockwell. “Steven [Soderbergh] and I were producing a little project
called ‘Welcome to Collinwood’ and I did a small part in the film
in order to help raise the money. Sam had the lead in the film,
and as I was working with him I kept thinking that he was the
perfect guy to play Chuck. I didn’t want someone too famous to
play the role. In my opinion, you cannot have famous people playing
famous people. It doesn’t work. Sam was the guy for the part,
ready to break and hadn’t yet. “
The movie works because Sam Rockwell
was a very brave actor from the beginning, and that’s the simple
truth of it....
Download the whole production notes
as a PDF file: pressnotes.pdf ( 149
KB)
TRAILER AND OFFICIAL SITE
The official movie trailer and more:
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Everybody knew him as the kooky host of The
Gong Show, but would you believe ''CIA hit man''? That's
right. Dippy by day; deadly by night... |
| Click on the image to watch
the trailer and 4 other snippets of the movie |
Official Site:
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