Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Television made him famous, but his biggest hits happened off screen. Television producer by day, CIA assassin by night, Chuck Barris was recruited by the CIA at the height of his TV career and trained to become a covert operative. Or so Barris said.
George Clooney's directorial debut is a stylish, inventive film that blurs the line between biography and delusion with genuine panache. Sam Rockwell delivers a magnetic, career-defining performance as Chuck Barris, supported by a sharp ensemble including Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, and Clooney himself. Clooney and cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel shoot the film with rich, period-specific visual flair — bold colors, unusual compositions, and an assured retro aesthetic that makes it stand out. The novelty is high: the premise of a game show host doubling as CIA assassin, filtered through Barris's own unreliable memoir, is genuinely singular in conception and tone. The plot is engaging but occasionally loses momentum in its mid-section as the spy and showbiz threads don't always integrate seamlessly. The ending is satisfying but somewhat anticlimactic given the film's frenetic energy, settling into melancholy rather than landing with a sharper punch.