By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * *)
You've got to love George Clooney: my wife tells me so, because she sees that he is like Elvis, he has an ability to appear like a guy who sees himself on screen and giggle, is this really happening to little ol' me?
George has
his name up there for directing this one, though when you're George you can ask mates like Steven Soderbergh, X-Men and Casino cinematographer Tom Sigel and Being John Malkovich and Adaptation screenwriter Charlie Kaufman to help out.
Clooney has chosen the offbeat and fairly unauthoritative biography of Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell), producer of 60s gameshows such as The Dating Game and The Gong Show (an early American Idol).
Barris claims that he was co-opted into the CIA by an agent, Byrd (Clooney), trained in weapons and sent overseas to kill America's enemies.
Yeah, right. Barris wrote his life story during the 80s, a period when — as we all know — if you could remember the 60s you didn't live them. Droll, but not much more.
DVD features: movie (114min); commentary with Clooney and cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel; deleted scenes with optional commentary; 6 behind-the-scene; Sam Rockwell screen test; Gong Show acts; The Real Chuck Barris documentary.
