Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is a 2002 biographical spy film depicting the life of popular game show host and producer Chuck Barris, who claimed to have also been an assassin for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The film was directed by actor George Clooney and written by Charlie Kaufman, and starred Sam Rockwell, Julia Roberts, Drew Barrymore, and Clooney.
Columbia Pictures had planned to produce a film adaptation of Barris' memoir of the same name in the late 1980s. When the film rights were purchased by producer Andrew Lazar, Charlie Kaufman was commissioned to write a new script, which attracted various A-list actors and filmmakers to the project. Bryan Singer at one point planned to direct the film with Johnny Depp in the lead role, but the production was canceled. The production resumed when Clooney took over directing duties.
Barris remained heavily involved in production in an attempt to portray the film from his point of view. To accommodate the $30 million budget, Clooney convinced actresses Drew Barrymore and Julia Roberts to lower their asking prices. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was released with respectful reviews from critics, but bombed 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.
Famous quotes containing the word dangerous:
“When an opinion has taken root in a democracy and established itself in the minds of the majority, it afterward persists by itself, needing no effort to maintain it since no one attacks it. Those who at first rejected it as false come in the end to adopt it as accepted, and even those who still at the bottom of their hearts oppose it keep their views to themselves, taking great care to avoid a dangerous and futile contest.”
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)