Buy It Now: Permanent Midnight

Dir. David Velez

Rating: 5.8  |  0 User Reviews  |  Send to Friend

By Piers Marchant

The true account of TV writer Jerry Stahl, who wrote for "Alf" and "Moonlighting" among other shows in the '80s while nursing a gigantic heroin habit, plays a bit like one of the hackneyed sit-com scripts Stahl labored over. There's no laugh track, but there is a sort of obvious trajectory -- junkie finds success, junkie goes too far, junkie loses everything, junkie redeems himself -- and, despite a few good moments, has far too many lines like this, the very first line of the film: "You want to know what's mortifying? Smack is like the leisure suit of the '90s." At least Stahl and director David Veloz give you fair warning. The story of Stahl, while interesting, is an exercise in irritation: As the film would have it, he's yet another successful junkie whose biggest problem is everything comes far too easy for him. Lip service is played to a difficult family life -- his mother's (off-screen) death offers a hint of deeper troubled waters for the man -- but he's steeped his story in the guise of a loose-lipped type of comedy in a way that makes us care less, not more, about his plight. Through a succession of stunning women (Elizabeth Hurley, Maria Bello), world-class writing gigs, a beautiful baby daughter and phenomenal success, Stahl only proves that nothing can be given to him that he can't piss away. Essentially, the film is a narcissistic ego trip in the guise of a junkie-rundown, replete with obvious cameo by the real Stahl who appears as a -- wait for it! -- addictive doctor specialist with an important message for his cinematic stand-in. The film does present an early dramatic role for lead Ben Stiller, who plays Stahl with sardonic grace and charm. It certainly isn't without its merits, but a man who can sum up the worst aspect of what heroin made him do by answering "showing up on '"Maury'" -- meaning the daytime talk show -- isn't asking for us to take him, or his story, all that seriously in the first place.

Special features include a director's commentary, a handful of deleted scenes and an outstanding theatrical trailer.

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