Chuck Barris :CIA Spook ?

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind Script Review
Sometimes the truth is crazier then fiction. The life of Gong Show host Chuck Barris is something like that. In his memoirs, he claims to have been a CIA operative through out his TV career. Charlie Kaufman, the most innovative screenwriter working today, has adapted his autobiography, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, for the big screen to be George Clooney's directorial debut. The movie is presently shooting here in Montreal. Miramax will release the movie in November of this year.

Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell) is one of the strangest men you'll ever meet. A successful TV creator and game-show host, he has an extremely chilling dark side. His rise to fame was fueled by sexual frustrations, the constant need for 'pussy'. His failure with girls fed his fury which lead to recurring bar fights. That's when CIA agent Jim Byrd (George Clooney) decided to recruit him. Trained to be a killer, Barris traveled the world (sometime using his TV shows as cover) doing the CIA's dirty jobs. Back at home; his wildflower girlfriend Penny (Drew Barrymore) finally wants a serious commitment, while he's falling for fellow agent Patricia (Julia Roberts). How long can a man remain a contract killer/game-show host and keep his sanity?

Charlie Kaufman is a genius. Repeat along with me: Charlie Kaufman is a genius. His Being John Malkovich was no fluke. He takes every trick in the book and mixes them up like nothing we have ever seen before. If you wanna study screenwriting, get any script written by Charlie Kaufman. You'll be blown away by his style, his uniqueness and his creativity. This is my favorite of the unreleased trilogy (Human Nature, Adaptation). This story entertains you from beginning to end. It's extremely hard to describe his style, but it's too cool to miss. If you can get your hands on a Kaufman script, do it. You won't regret a minute of it...

BARRIS
My name is Charles Prescott Barris. I have written pop songs, I have been a television producer. I am responsible for polluting airwaves with mind-numbing, puerile entertainment. In addition, I have murdered thirty-three human beings. I am damned to Hell.

Definitely one of the most flawed central characters that I have ever read. Unlikable is not strong enough to describe him. Sometime we feel bad for Chuck, other times you just want him to kill himself. Will audiences be able to connect with such a weird protagonist? Maybe, it will certainly depend on Sam Rockwell's performance. I have found him to be very talented in the few roles I have seen him.(Charlie's Angels, Heist) He has the skills, let's see if he can hit this one out of the park. I still would have preferred Mike Myers or even this film's director George Clooney playing Barris.

Dear Chuck,
I'm Dead now. I hope you're happy.
The door's open.
Love Always
Penny

The typical early seventies hippie girl who slowly becomes aware in the post Vietnam USA. Poor Penny, who's carefree mentality accommodates Chuck at first. Her awakening is interesting and causes great dilemmas for Barris. Very different role for Drew Barrymore. I'm curious to see if she can pull it off. It's good to see that she still wants to stretch those acting muscles.

PATRICIA
Prove how much you love me, baby. Kill for me. Then I'm all yours.

Julia Roberts' character is unlike anything we have seen her play in recent memories. She curses, screws and kills in this film. One crazy b****! I can't wait to see her performance. HEAVY SPOILERS WARNING!!! (drag mouse to read) Her character dies at the hands of Barris. A shocking twist which I'm pretty sure will surprise a lot of viewers. Gutsy move on the part of Julia. END SPOILERS!!!

BYRD
Listen, you're thirty-two years old and you've achieved nothing. Jesus Christ was dead and alive again by thirty-three. Better get cracking.

The director has kept himself a nice little supporting role. Clooney might steal the show from under his talented cast. I'm curious to see how he plays the part. Serious or for laughing purposes. That character can go either way.

It's one of the movies to look forward to next fall. There's no way this project could fail. First-time helmer Clooney should have a critical hit on his hands, it remains to see if mainstream audience will jump on the 'Gong' bandwagon.

Stay tuned...

That's all folks...

Jean-Fran�ois Allaire (aka DeadPool)

Questions, comments, praise etc. Email me at [email protected]

SEND ME A SCOOP!!


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Jean-Fran�ois Allaire is TNMC's first columnist. At only 23 years old he has become a respected entertainment journalist, with his columns appearing in such major websites as Corona's Coming Attractions and Scr(i)pt magazine. Hailing from Montreal this young writer is determined to dig up all the details on the movies before they hit your local theater. If you're part of a movie production then you really need to be talking to him.

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So what do you think ? Is this the truth or is Chuck Barris & Co. pulling a Gong Show style stunt on us ?

It is reported that Elvis was actively assisting the DEA and other Government Agencies in their War Against Drugs during the 1970's after his stepbrother was turned on to narcotics by a major drug dealer...There WAS an undercover agent in Elvis' band so as to protect him after recieving several death threats. Many people believe the Elvis is not dead scenario stems from his faked death staged by the DEA so as to place him in deep protective cover after he fingered a Big Name Drug Dealer....

Andy Summers noted for his participation in The Police was the son of a CIA Operative who was stationed in the Mid D East. In fact Summers' Dad did use his influence in to help Andy & The Police to breeze through several Customs Checks when they did a tour of the Mid East....

Jim Morrison of The Doors was the son of a US Navy Admiral who was very active in assisting Russian & Eastern Bloc defectors to re-establish themselves in the West with New ID's . There are also many people who believe that Morrison was sick & tired of the Rock Star Lifestyle and faked his death in Paris . Papa Morrison is rumoured to have helped Jim re-emerge under a different name and lifestyle in the US....

Lastly, there is growing speculation that Stevie Nicks' father Jess had an active participation in the Secret Government Projects (Missile Defence, UFO Retrievals, & Jet Testing) that took place in the American Southwest during the 1950's & 60's. Stevie states that her family lived in Albuquerque (Kirtland AFB, Sandia Labs), Salt Lake City (Wendover AFB), Texas (Fort Bliss & many other US Miltary Test Sites) and SF Bay Area (Naval Facilities)...She also said many bios that her Dad worked for Greyhound Buslines in the Southwest and according to Capt. Kevin Randle (USAFR)of Roswell fame, Greyhound supplied vehicles to transport personnel to Government Test Sites and UFO crash sites throught the Southwest during the 50's and 60's....

She once told Mick Fleetwood that as soon as she and her Brother Chris made friends in one Southwest Town, her Father suddenly packed up the family and moved them to another town. The only other people I know who experienced such a lifestyle during their childhhoods were Military Brats and/or had Parents working for High Level Government Projects. In fact many Government Agents are known to pose as executives with Major Corporations to provide deep cover.....

So who knows what our Enterntainment figures do in their private lives. It may be more exciting than what they do onstage !

i have heard that chuck barris thing from several people over the last couple years. as to whether it's true i have no idea but who better to be a cia opperative than someone who can move pretty freely around the world under the disquise of doing a tv show?

I watched Confessions of a dangerous mind last night. I figured I would check ATS for a thread; I am surprised that there are not more posts.
I found Rockwell a credible Chuck Barris; I must admit I watched The Gong Show when I was younger and Rockwell even resembles Chuck Barris. (the show I remember the best was when a really hot girl wriggled her way out of a straight jacket; gimme a break I was a teenager) The character was weak and seemed a pawn of the stronger actors (Clooney, Hauer and, to a lesser extent, Roberts) or more like a cork that was floating on the sea of these other actors personalities and this was, I believe, on purpose.
As an influence on society, looking back Barris' shows seemed kind of innocent but at the time they were considered a very bad influence, kind of the way Springer is viewed today. The moral deterioration of TV has occurred in degrees....I know all you have to do is change the channel. Are these kind of shows a reflection of what society wants or social engineering?
So was this just a movie or did he really work as a CIA operative? As with many threads on ATS I will not offer a personal opinion..I just dont know. The movie was billed as a documentary and it would have been a really big case of hidden in plain sight, movie included.
To add to your list of celebrities with TPTB connections consider a more contemporary example; the vocalist from the band Tool; he used to be an officer in the military (do not know which branch) seems kind of a stretch to go from a miltary officer to a progressive metal vocalist. Tool had some very interesting music.

Uh, sorry not rude at all, my writing style can be a bit rambling.
Kind of a review of the film and a comment to the OP.
Chuck Barris was a producer of such TV gems of the 70s such as the dating game and the gong show. Did you read the original post? It might have put my post in context....or perhaps not.
www.abovetopsecret.com...
As far as the Tool reference the above is an interesting ATS thread concerning Tool, Maynard & co. are indeed genius.