Permanent Midnight

This movie has been made and remade so often, but Ben Stiller is believable enough to make this one of the better ones. Who knew he could act? He can act. Nice supporting work from Liz Torres and Peter Greene.

Funny man Ben Stiller is more than just a comedian. Comedy is at many times, harder to capture than drama. American knows him as the funny and over the top actor who has made his "mark" in movies like There's Something About Mary and Meet the Parents. In Permanent Midnight, Still is still funny but also convincingly dramatic. Having to play the role of the Hollywood writer who is without passion, except for his drug habit, Stiller is amazing from beginning to end. Many of the Ben Stiller Show alumni return to do cameos including long time friend Owen Wilson. A great cast and a great story, the movie is enjoyable because there is no lying. This is an "In you face" true story. Stiller has no need to have to prove himself to Hollywood that he is a great actor who has faith in his craft.

If you don't have a main character the audience can sympathize with, if you handle the photography as if you were rushing through a cheap television show, then having a great cast is irrelevant. About three quarters of the way through, I lost interest and turned it off. Requiem for a Dream this is not. Requiem, though very painful to watch, was quite creatively put together, with gut wrenching performances, and characters we could hope for, even though we knew all too well just where they were going. Permanent Midnight is boring and flat, more from technique than material. Too bad. I really like Ben Stiller but a good performance on his part just wasn't enough.

I know that it is not always possible for Hollywood to make a faithful adaptation of a book, because of time restraints, budgets, etc., but David Veloz's version of Jerry Stahl's autobiography is a major disappointment. Veloz changes and/or leaves out so many interesting aspects of the book. For instance, Veloz fails to capture Stahl's wit and sense of humor, the cop DID NOT arrest Stahl when he pulled him over (Cop: "where you're at right now is worse than any place I can put you), the fact that Stahl wrote for "Moonlighting", "Playboy", his interview with director David Lynch for the chance to write for "Twin Peaks", etc, etc, etc,. I don't want to sound too cliched, but the book is much more interesting.

Jerry Stahl (Ben Stiller) stars in another pretentious film about Hollywood and drugs. Jerry is a writer and a user, He has enough talent to keep himself employed and almost pay for his habit. He sleeps with pretty women and can not get himself clean. Stiller has not a likable character. The film seemed self-serving. The direction and build-up to scenes were not there. Guide: F-word, sex, brief nudity (Maria Bello)

Although the movie is uneven in both some performances and situations, it's worth watching Ben Stiller powerful characterization of Jerry Stahl. There are scenes very difficult to watch due to extreme use of drugs. It's not for the average audiences. If you like to see good acting this one is for you to watch

Not bad, though not particularly memorable or resonant. So-so script with terse, witty dialogue - David Veloz never wants for a good one-liner. I was never bored, but it would be an overstatement to say I cared about the character Jerry Stahl, either. It's hard to imagine, though, anyone bringing him to life more fully or entertainingly than Ben Stiller. He is compulsively watchable, and without him I think this one might've been DOA. I guess it boils down to this: Is it just me, or is a guy who scores prime writing jobs and prime women while he's a hopeless smack addict inherently unsympathetic? (And the impression I get from the writing and casting is that we are very much meant to feel in some way for Jerry.)