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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)

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Released 19-Apr-2004

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Main Menu Audio & Animation
Audio Commentary-Director And Cinematographer
Deleted Scenes-11, With Optional Commentary
Featurette-Behind The Scenes
Featurette-Sam Rockwell Screen Test
Featurette-Gong Show Acts
Featurette-The Real Chuck Barris
Gallery-Stills
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2002
Running Time 108:48
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (81:53) Cast & Crew
Start Up Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By George Clooney
Studio
Distributor

Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.
Starring Drew Barrymore
George Clooney
Julia Roberts
Sam Rockwell
Rutger Hauer
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI ? Music Alex Wurman


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
German Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
English for the Hearing Impaired
German
German Titling
German Audio Commentary
Smoking Yes, lots, and lots, and lots of smoking.
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    The back cover blurb for Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind calls it a "comedy thriller", but while there are elements of comedy (albeit very, very dark comedy), and some "thriller" style aspects, this is really more of a quirky drama than anything else. The story as to how this film came to be made is almost as interesting as the story itself. Based on the "unauthorised autobiography" of Chuck Barris (a successful game show host and producer during the sixties and seventies in the US), the script from the master of quirkiness, Charlie Kaufman (the man responsible for the equally quirky Being John Malkovich and Adaptation.), quickly attracted the interest of a then just post-ER George Clooney. As the years went by, and the movie passed through the hands of a string of directors (including X-Men helmer Bryan Singer), it started to look increasingly as if it was never going to get made. That was when George Clooney stepped in. By agreeing to direct the film himself, as well as appear in it for virtually no money, he was able to get it financed, and to cast his first choice for Barris - Sam Rockwell. He also pulled off the coup of getting Julia Roberts to appear in the film in a small but important role for free. So all was set, and it was time for the cameras to start rolling.

    Confessions tells the story of Chuck Barris from his own perspective. Starting from his early years pre-success, it goes through to his marriage, and self-imposed exile. All that sounds rather straightforward - the story of a TV producer. What gives it a very unique twist is Barris' claim that during his time in TV he lead a double life - TV producer by day, and CIA hitman by night. Barris' supposed missions are included in this story as if they are true, and it is left up to the audience to decide for themselves if Barris really did kill 33 people as he claimed, or if he is just pulling one last joke on the public. Either way, it makes for an interesting story, and a very different type of entertainment.

    In directing his first feature, George Clooney has adopted the attitude of "take what has worked elsewhere and use it here". In that sense, he was obviously paying attention when working with close friend, and Section Eight partner Steven Soderburgh, because the look of Confessions very closely resembles Soderburgh's work. Not that copying the style of one of the most successful directors in film today is a bad thing - far from it, as Clooney has crafted a very stylish and visually impressive film. The performances are all excellent, with Sam Rockwell being a standout - he imbues the rather despicable character of Barris with enough reality that the audience respects him, even if they don't exactly like him. Drew Barrymore is perfect as Barris' long suffering partner Penny, while Clooney and Roberts make the most of their small roles, hamming it up and loving it all the way. The other thing to look out for here are the well known actors in smaller roles. Keep an eye out for brief glimpses of Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, and for Rutger Hauer and Maggie Gyllenhaal with minor speaking parts (as a fellow assassin, and Penny's housemate respectively).

    Confessions is not a perfect movie - for one it tries a little too hard to be off-beat and quirky, and does not always pull it off. This is a very dark movie, but the subject matter is played a little too straight. Another problem is the pacing. Languid probably suggests that it is too fast - this movie is slow with a capital S. Certainly that leaves plenty of room for character development, and for the performance of Sam Rockwell, but too much time is spent dwelling on Barris' eccentricities, and simply setting up the fact that he is a bit of a loose cannon. With some trimming, this film would be even better.

    Given both the subject nature, and the rather off-beat style of this film, it is never going to appeal to a wide audience. Fans of Charlie Kaufman will really get into it while those who are following George Clooney and Steven Soderburgh's Section Eight films will have no trouble adding this to their collection. Those looking for a "comedy thriller" however are best advised to look elsewhere. This is a film for when you want to engage your mind as well as your senses, and enjoy a fascinating story well told with great visual flair.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The video transfer presented for Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind is good without quite being great.

    Presented in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, this transfer is 16x9 enhanced.

    Sharpness is quite good, with plenty of fine detail apparent. There is quite a bit of background grain, with some very heavy grain periods, such as from 41:21 to 41:45. The grain is usually due to the film stock used, and as such is less a problem with the transfer than an artistic choice. Shadow detail ranges from excellent to poor, although again this is entirely by choice, as portions of the movie were shot on infra-red film, and it is these that contain no shadow detail at all. There is no low level noise.

    Colours are excellent, and a very important part of the transfer. Colour is used in many different ways in this film (washed out in the desert, the infra-red sequences, pastel tones, etc), and the colour representation is spot on. This looks as good as it did in the cinema.

    There are a few compression artefacts present in this transfer, which is a little disappointing. The harsh use of colour from time to time causes posterization artefacts, such as on Sam Rockwell's face at 14:36, and there is also some slight motion trailing at around 52:53. The problems are minor, but the fact is they should not be present at all. There is only a relatively small amount of aliasing, but when it does appear, it is with a vengeance, such as at 55:50 where the whole screen shimmers. On the upside there are no film artefacts present in this transfer.

    The subtitles are generally accurate, although not every word is reproduced. They are well paced and easy to read.

    This is an RSDL formatted disc with the layer change taking place at 81:53. The change is well placed and difficult to detect.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio transfer is very good. This isn't the type of film to particularly stress a surround sound system, but this track is capable of all that is required of it.

    There are three soundtracks present on this disc. The first two are the original English dialogue, and a German dub, both in Dolby Digital 5.1 (at 448Kbps for the English and 384Kbps for the German). The third is the English audio commentary track, in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (at 192Kbps).

    Dialog is clear at all times. There are a number of low level dialogue exchanges in this movie, and some may find them difficult to hear - but that is the way it was shown theatrically, so this is a good representation rather than a transfer problem.

    Audio sync is spot on throughout the movie and never causes a problem

    The score is credited to Alex Wurman, and a very good one it is. For the noir moments it is dark, foreboding, and full of brass. For the dramatic moments it is pared down to the basics. There is also a smattering of period pieces thrown in for good measure, but it is the score that dominates.

    Surround use is quite good where necessary - that is, keeping in mind that probably 85% of this film is dialogue-driven drama, they get some rather impressive use in the other 15%. The sound design is quite impressive, and makes use of the surrounds for more than just carrying score.

    Subwoofer activity is also rather limited, but when it comes in, it can be quite devastating. Bass rumbles are used to underline some key dramatic moments - and some of those are loud enough to knock down a wall if the sub is turned up too far - beware those that turn the volume up to hear the dialogue better.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

    The collection of extras presented for this movie is extensive and of a very high quality. It is obvious that George Clooney cares about his first film.

Menu

    The menu is 16x9 enhanced, animated, themed around the movie, and features a Dolby Digital soundtrack.

Deleted Scenes (23:03)

    This section presents 11 deleted scenes. Each scene is available with or without audio commentary (by director George Clooney and cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigal). The scenes are presented at 2.35:1, are not 16x9 enhanced, and feature Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio (for both production audio and commentaries). The list of scenes is as follows:

Featurette - Behind The Scenes (22:49)

    This behind the scenes featurette contains a little more interesting information than the usual mutual backslapping of the EPK documentaries (although there is a bit of that, mostly from Drew Barrymore), and shows quite a bit about how things were done. It is presented at 1.33:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced, with Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio. Strangely, this featurette is broken over different titles for each chapter, which means you can't fast-forward between chapters. On the upside, a "Play All" button is provided.

Sam Rockwell screen test (6:10)

    This section presents three test scenes performed by Sam Rockwell. There isn't all that much interesting here, as his performance is largely the same as in the main feature, although he does get a chance to show off his dancing a bit more. Presented at 2.35:1 (although with counters outside the 2.35:1 box), not 16x9 enhanced, and featuring Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio.

Gong Show Acts (4:51)

    These are five "acts" filmed for the movie that ultimately weren't used. Really only worth watching if you like to punish yourself. Presented at 2.35:1, not 16x9 enhanced, and featuring Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio.

Featurette - The Real Chuck Barris (6:15)

    The interviews with Barris filmed for the movie were cut out to improve the dramatic impact, but they are presented here, edited together in an interesting little package that throws some light on the realities of Chuck Barris.

Stills Gallery (25)

    This gallery contains 25 behind the scenes images.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;     While the gag reel would have been nice to have, I think we can live without it, so I declare this one a tie.

Summary

    Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind is a quirky, darkly humorous film looking at the life (or supposed life) of TV host Chuck Barris. It gets swallowed up in its own quirkiness and style from time to time, but for the most part is great entertainment.

    The video quality is very good, with only some unfortunate compression artefacts really marring it.

    The audio is also very good, and perfectly serves the movie.

    The extras are extensive and quite in depth. This is about as good as they get for a single-disc release. Great stuff.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Nick Jardine (My bio, it's short - read it anyway)
Tuesday, December 09, 2003
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-555K, using Component output
DisplayLoewe Xelos 5381ZW. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationOnkyo TX-DS787, THX Select
SpeakersRochester Audio Animato Series (2xSAF-02, SAC-02, 3xSAB-01) + 12" Sub (150WRMS)

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