Plot: What’s it about?
I used to ride my bicycle to a little movie theatre that would let me see R rated films growing up. I would hide my bicycle in the bushes and hope my parents didn’t drive by, because they didn’t allow me to see R rated films growing up. That is why I had seen Being John Malkovich in the theatres and been blown away by how inventive it was. I had seen Human Nature, and thought it was decent in comparison. Then Charlie Kaufmann had one hell of a year. In 2003, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Adaptation were both given wide releases in the theaters. I really enjoyed both, and Adaptation is probably a bit more clever, but my favorite of the two is easily Confessions. This, as you can guess, is a point of contention and many people will disagree with me. The theatrical audiences and the Academy definitely would agree that Adaptation is a better film. Confessions bombed at the theatre and on DVD, whereas Adaptation garnered numerous Academy nominations and was a bit of a minor key hit. So, why am I being so damn stubborn? I can explain.
The movie is an adaptation of a book by the same name. The book was the autobiography of Chuck Barris, who was the creator of such long lasting schlock as The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, and The Gong Show. He was a well known figure for his long running series, and also for hosting The Gong Show. That is why it must have been very surprising to everybody when the book explained that he had been a government spook and had killed over thirty people during the course of his career. The movie and the book explain how Chuck’s rise to fame occurred, how he was enlisted into the CIA, his sexual promiscuity, and his downfall from the top, and his love story with his wife. The book probably would have fallen into obscurity if Charlie Kaufmann had not penned an excellent screenplay and gotten it in the hands of George Clooney.
If the plot sounds ludicrous, that is just part of the fun. George Clooney took the helm of director for the first time simply because he wanted to make sure the movie was made. It’s incredible to me that this was Clooney’s first time directing. Everything in the film works so well, from the drained out color scheme to the camera movements and breakaway sets, Clooney made numerous brave decisions on the project and must have stunned himself when they really worked. It also was a tremendous piece of work, spanning three decades in the film length with very good eyes for periodic detail. The acting is top notch. Sam Rockwell plays Chuck Barris and, as is usually the case, he absolutely nails it. The script calls for Barris to be at many different points creepy, pathetic, harsh, sexist, and somehow sympathetic. Rockwell is a machine in the film. It really is a performance that will stand the test of time. The supporting cast includes Drew Barrymore and Julia Roberts who turn in solid performances. To be honest, I am not the world’s biggest fan of either of those actresses, but they do a good job in their roles here. Clooney is excellent in his role as another agent and all the bit players are awesome. The movie is a very complicated film, that demands a lot from the viewer. I can’t think of very many films that balance humor and paranoia so well. It does all of this while being a biography of a celebrity and skewering celebrity culture in the process. I can’t tell you how much I love watching Sam Rockwell look at the newspaper clipping that reads, “Chuck Harris Is the Decline Of Modern Civilization.” Also, it is fascinating to watch his “Gong Show,” and see the million replicas that are infecting our televisions today. I can only assume that the people that didn’t like the movie are not huge fans of gallows humor. For me, I am happy for every laugh to end with a gunshot.
Video: How’s it look?
The film is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 with an MPEG-4 AVC encoding. The disk itself is only a 25GB Blu-ray, and the video seems to suffer from some compression issues, though nothing is too jarring. The film itself uses numerous different film stocks, including shooting with infrared film. The cinematographer was Thomas Sigel, who was also cinematographer on Three Kings. I personally love all the processes that he puts his film through to give it a gritty edge, but it does lead to some detail being softened in the process. Overall, the transfer is solid. It was still leagues better than the old DVD version. Unfortunately, this movie did not do well at the box office, so for now we will just settle for the best transfer available.
Audio: How’s it sound?
Audio is presented in a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. The mix itself mainly stays in the very front speakers. For a DTS 5.1 mix, it felt like the LFE could have been used a lot more frequently, but this may just fall on the original sound mix of the film. The good news is that the track still sounds great. The dialogue is crystal clear and the music cues are pitch perfect. No real complaints here.
Supplements: What are the extras?
These are all ported over from the previous DVD in standard definition.
- Audio Commentary with Director George Clooney and Cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel. I really enjoyed this commentary track. Clooney explains how the films Carnal Knowledge, Klute, All That Jazz, and The Parallax View influenced shots in the film. There is some great discussion of their use of silhouettes, cross processing, and infrared film. The best part of the track for me was when they point out a very subtle joke involving Oswalt and Ruby that is hidden in the film. I couldn’t believe I had missed that in my prior viewings. Definitely worth a listen.
- Behind the Scenes (SD; 22:52) – This seems like a pretty run of the mill press release style behind the scenes. It does offer some nice footage of the creation of the film and some good interviews with those involved. I would recommend watching it once.
- Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Clooney and Sigel (SD; 23:00) These scenes are on the cutting floor for brevity’s sake. Most of the scenes that they cut were inessential, although there is one scene where Barris walks past some different sets that is very good. Fair Warning: The first deleted scene has full frontal male nudity. I should have seen it coming, and somehow I just didn’t.
- Sam Rockwell Screen Tests (SD; 7:11) – These are pretty fun to watch. Sam is one hell of a dancer!
- Gong Show Acts (SD; 4:53) – These were acts that didn’t make it into the film. Nothing too special here.
- The Real Chuck Barris (SD; 6:15) – I wish this segment had been longer. Watching this and the behind the scenes, gives you a good idea of how close Rockwell came to playing him. Fun to watch.
The Bottom Line
This movie is destined for cult status. The first time I saw the movie, I knew I was in love with it. As I have grown older, it has stayed with me and continued to delight me. The Blu Ray version of the film has ported over all the supplements from the original DVD, but has given a decent overhaul to the audio and video of the film. If you want to see if the movie is your cup of tea, rent it now on Netflix. Given the bargain bin price, I recommend the double dip.
