I sense that something got disconnected between Charlie Kaufman’s writing of the script and George Clooney’s directing of it. The sensation of weird genius that accompanies Kaufman’s work feels sedated here, and at times overpowered by the psychadelic cinematography. It’s conceptually brilliant, to adapt an autobiography as a thriller-farce, and Clooney does some sound work behind the camera. He demonstrates some fabulous craft in the moments of heightened surrealism and achieves total fluidity in the edit. However, this particular writer/director marraige is just short of perfect, having been spoiled by the Kaufman/Jonze collaborations. As far as the acting, Sam Rockwell dominates, and Drew Barrymore delivers a warm-hearted and layered performance, perhaps her best work yet.
