George Clooney (no doubt with buddy Soderbergh on hand with tips) proves a deft hand at whipping up a movie that's at once accessible in a commercial way and indie enough to be cool.

Continuing America's fascination with biopics of the strangest possible subjects, it's based on the memoirs of TV producer and Gong Show creator Chuck Barris, who claimed he was a CIA assassin working throughout Europe while trips with contestants from his shows provided the perfect cover.

Before long, a mole starts killing off his contemporaries, and trying to manage life between sunny LA TV producer stardom with his beautiful, devoted girlfriend Penny (Barrymore) while doing the bidding of his enigmatic boss Jim Bird (Clooney) and dealing with the advances of his beautiful spy colleague (Roberts), Barris starts to unravel.

The story isn't as good as the vision and technique behind it, with good use of the camera, a clever script, and a great performance by Rockwell, who's been up and coming for years (ever since Green Mile).