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All Movie Info
Directed By
David Veloz
Written By:
David Veloz
Cast:
Ben Stiller, Elizabeth Hurley, Maria Bello, Owen Wilson, Lourdes Benedicto, Peter Greene, Cheryl Ladd, Fred Willard, Charles Fleischer, Janeane Garofalo, Jerry Stahl
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Permanent Midnight (1998)
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Movie Review by Zara 
March 12th, 2007
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A good Ben
There's a point in every marketable actor's career when they just start playing only to formula, giving the paying audience what they believe they want to see. Funny thing is, the audience then turns on that actor and starts to hate them for the very same thing. I've noticed that people are beginning to list Ben Stiller as one of their most hated people in films when he once was one of the most enjoyed. Although if you look back far enough, you'll find a time when he was considered to be on the outside. (Or however outside the kid of two famous showbiz parents can get.) Back before MEET THE PARENTS and yet after The Ben Stiller Show, there lies PERMANENT MIDNIGHT.
A true story adapted from the novel of the same name, Stiller plays Jerry Stahl, a Hollywood writer who develops a major heroine habit. The story is much the same as many others detailing people within the business. You take a talented person and watch them spiral completely out of control. There are times when it is stated better by Stahl than anyone else I've seen talk about addiction in tinseltown. So many fingers pointing blame in so many different directions. In this case, one of the most telling statements is when Stahl is asked how he got away with his addiction and people seemingly not knowing. "In Hollywood, everyone is too self absorbed to pay attention to anyone other than themselves..." he says. That's about the clear and concise gist of it.
While the main attraction of this flick is watching Stiller get into the role and get as ugly with it as possible, I rather enjoyed the side story of his romance with Bello. A woman who drives into his rehab life and sets in motion his retelling, there is a chemistry between the two of them in their scenes which radiates enough heat to catch your attention just as much as the needles in the veins make you cover your eyes. While it might be hard to find romance in a movie which is supposed to be detailing the dirty habits of drug habits, there most certainly is that element here. It's part of what grounds the movie and makes it feel more real, rather than just some sleazy memoire expose junk that gets told too often and by way less skilled hands.
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