Review of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) by Compi24 — 26 Oct 2020

Easily ranking amongst the top three most underrated directorial debuts I've seen from a working actor thus far, George Clooney's "Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind" doesn't just rest on the merits of Charlie Kaufman's compellingly structured and executed narrative.

Echoes of Soderbergh and the Coen brothers are absolutely apparent, but on top of those elements you're also presented with a lot of experimental framing, editing camerawork and set dressing. Whether those were born out of the wackiness of Kaufman's screenplay or through genuine creativity on the part of Clooney himself, it's refreshingly atypical to see such stylized directorial work from an actor.

Speaking of acting, Sam Rockwell is incredible in this. Considering the difficulty and flexibility loaded into this role, I'm a little disappointed this isn't brought up more often as one of the actor's best performances.

He absolutely carries the movie, to be sure, but everything else checks out just fine or better. Truly solid work overall.