Actor George Clooney clearly relishes living the life of a rich and famous bachelor, but dating has had its ups and downs.

"Here's the great thing about dating," Clooney says. "You get to start over and go, 'I'm a really nice guy.' And by virtue of saying it, you can be."

The downside of being one of Hollywood's most eligible hunks, even as he wiles away the summer in a picturesque Italian villa, is venturing outdoors with any new real-life love interest and thus becoming "fresh meat" for the paparazzi.

"The minute you start dating, it's pictures and stories and 'Who is she?' It puts the pressure on immediately," he laments.

"So you have to decide, before you go out in public, if you're willing to take those hits. Usually, it's, 'Well, why don't we stay in and have some drinks and get to know each other before we decide if we're willing to face up to this."

Clooney says he has spent much of the summer holed up inside the luxurious confines of his 15-bedroom villa overlooking Italy's Lake Como.

But the 42-year-old "ER" heartthrob turned big-screen leading man says he considers himself lucky to be living the good life, and he knows better than to complain about the trappings of fame and fortune.

Clooney did, however, take umbrage at Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan for his scathing review of the actor's recent directing debut, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind." "An angry...guy," Clooney said of Turan. "He just destroyed "Confessions."

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