Stuart:

Why do I keep watching films with George Clooney when I don’t even like him? Not only does he co-star, but he also directs this film.

I can understand why I could make neither head nor tail of the Confessions trailer. It seemed to be a strange mix of drama with some jokes that didn’t work. I have to admit that if I worked in the marketing department I’d have no idea how to sell it, either.

I was finally convinced to hire this film after realising that Charlie Kaufman had written the script (I’d only recently seen and been in awe of Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind.)

There was many a moment during Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind where I was ready to give up and press stop. However, there were two things that kept me going:

a) I’ve never been a particular fan of Drew Barrymore’s work, in fact up until recently I was convinced that she peaked in E.T. But in this film she truly shone. Her character was actually slightly reminiscent of Kate Winslet’s in Eternal Sunshine. I spent most of the film waiting for her to reappear.

b) Rutger Hauer: one of the most underrated and under appreciated actors of our generation. The poor guy only got about three good films. That’s right, and two of them were only good in that bad way. (Ladyhawke and Wedlock.) And then there’s Blade Runner. Does the filmgoing community realise the enormous debt we owe Hauer? He came up with the line ‘like tears in rain’. Honestly, he should have been given a medal for services rendered to classic movie lines, but instead he gets stuck with guest appearances on shows like Alias, and movies like Redline. In Confessions he was actually given a decent role, and of course he was fantastic, one of the standouts in this film.

I could tell that Julia Roberts must have jumped at the chance to play a character that actually stretches her acting ability. (Okay, she was good in Erin Brockovich, in fact she’s always good, it’s just that she keeps on playing the same character.)

I was bored through most of this film. Towards the end I began to appreciate the wonderful cinematography and sound design, but overall I thought this was a case of style over substance.