Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Johan Dondokambey I like how the story rolls out smoothly with the pace stable at the right speed. The opening is also successful in igniting curiosity to stay and keep watching. The movie also presents some very good photography especially the coloration and light usage. Sam Rockwell did quite okay in this movie. He can nab the outgoing nature of the character nicely, something that he also exhibited in his character in the later Charlie's Angels. The thing that nags a bit for me is that Sam Rockwell hasn't gotten any more spotlight after this and Charlie's Angels. I also like the fact that there are great names acting for this movie like Drew Barrymore, George Clooney, and Julia Roberts. They gave out great supporting character role in this movie. I also like the fact that there are nice cameos by equally famous faces like Maggie Gyllenhaal, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon.

Josh Thomas First of all, I would like to mention my reluctance to watch movies directed by famous celebrities. Often times, when one directs a film, the entire story and format of the movie is pretentious and seems to be something to expand the actor's "talent". This one seemed to start off that way, until the true story began to unfold a little ways into the movie. At first I didn't know this was written by Charlie Kaufman until the time the story lifts off, too. Once you learn that the main character, played so well by Sam Rockwell, is trying to change his life for something more successful you see all the elements of a Kaufman script come into frame with some unique frames and angles. The story of Chuck Barris, be it all the way factual or not, is extremely entertaining and the way this film plays out you really get to know who this man is... or his character as it's meant to be seen at the least. I love everything about this film from the twisted, Kaufman humor to the fall from comedy to insanity and even the extreme length for a story that could've been told a lot quicker, but this was a solid script. It worked at it's length and a part of me wishes it was longer, because it's such a different movie. If you're tired of the same movie of blockbuster actions flicks or the common love story, this is definitely a movie to see.

lasttimeisaw I have no idea who Chuck Barry is, but I guess I should not miss Mr. Clooney's director debut, furthermore Charlie Kaufman is billed as the screen writer, so the premise looks rosy. The film kicks off with a self-inspective unreeling of Chuck's life-long hustle and bustle jostling with his TV show-runner identity and a clandestine CIA assassin, interspersing with black & white snippets of interviews with people who know Chuck in the real life (but mostly are pithy sound-bites whose only purpose is to mystify his personage), occasionally the film switches into an over-saturated, over-exposed hue which may engender some hallucinatory reverberation, since the most obvious selling point is the enthralling double life scenario and leaving all the traces which could be siphoned (by viewers) to make one's own judgment whether it is plain fictional or not. But the ramifications are as much ambiguous as what George Clooney (an exemplar of the mainstream Hollywood mindset) wants us to believe, it does manage to shape a believe-it- or-despise-it logjam and according to the film's depiction, Chuck Barry is nothing but a pipsqueak (there is no reference of any flair in his ascending in the show business), a lunatic has a very troubled mental state (a dreadful imagination of someone is going to finish him off), a repellent womanizer/sex-addict has big commitment issues if we simply remove the " hit-man" halo, so from which one could imply is that the "other identity" suits well to rationalize his personal mire, it is his last straw, but from the eyes of an audience, it flunks by blatantly over-beautifying the double-identity situation, I never feel the frisson albeit the film is being cunningly shot in a retro-redolent grain, with a friendly comic tone and lively interactions between the cinematography and the editing, plus an ace soundtrack with the trademark of its time. But pitifully Charlie Kaufman's script doesn't have too much to bite. The biographic nature demands a wider range of chronicle, which may also be the Achilles heel of the genre, without zooming in any enhanced center-pieces, everything runs episodic, leaving no instant aftertaste at all to be amazed and appreciated. All sidekicks are come-and- go (with Drew Barrymore and Julia Roberts the female auxiliaries have longer stints, both equally awful I must say, Barrymore doesn't age at all along a two-decades span which is so dragging viewers out of the picture), the sole comic relief is the performance from Sam Rockwell, who was largely unknown at that time and overlooked by the awards season (a SILVER BERLIN BEAR for BEST ACTOR is his only trophy), his panache proffers the vitality of the film against its slightly mind-bogging narrative tempo, also his personal charisma transcends his character, and sublimates his character Chuck, a connection has been substantially built across the screen, a triumphant achievement in deed. Rutger Hauer, a fellow assassin, said in the film "killing my first man (in the WWII) is like making love with my first woman", which strikes a chord with my previous argument in DR. STRANGELOVE (1964, 8/10), war and killing may truly be the by-product of heterosexual men's hegemony in the society, if actually the raving stupidity germinates from the biologic impulse, along with evolution, let us hope a less macho but peaceful world is ahead of us.

Max Rebbid A decent movie. Like a bizarre toy, shot-off in two parts - desire for sex + true love, versus life and instincts of a spy killer. Black and other kinds of humor. It reminded me of „Catch me, if you can," only with less impact on feeling and drama, yet more enhanced in „coolness" of Sam Rockwell (he's absolutely enjoying his double life and as an actor he's really starring) + focus on Clooney's love for retro (and) television. I will certainly remember Brad Pitts cameo, the girl who liked strawberry taste, and psychedelic part of the last minutes which returns us to the beginning of the story. Screen is full of beautiful and lively colors, one of the things I do not usually notice in movies. The dancing between passionate love (Barrymore - and I believed her every emotion) and another mysterious spy (Roberts, who starred in too many movies to have a fresh presence) is strongly written and greatly played. A film worth watching. And I doubt I will ever see George Clooney with that mustache again...