Permanent Midnight


Having a look at real life drama is MTV with a lot more plausible activity and a few very fine performances. Starring Ben Stiller, Maria Bello, Elizabeth Hurley. Dir: David Veloz

 

Permanent Midnight is actually a personal memoir of scriptwriter Jerry Stahl, and David Volez picks Ben Stiller to help him ponder the past; personal selection is a tasteful parallel for vindicating the performance you need out of your lead.

It's a film that's a lot about sex and even a lot more about drugs. Jerry is relating his sins to Maria (while committing more sins with her, played by Maria Bello) and his dive to the deep funk of where losers lie. He meets Sandra (Hurley), whom he weds, so she can get her visa turned to a permanent subscription to the states, a.k.a. citizenship. It does all the things films do, while plunging into the abyss of revelry and mass misabuse of life.

The most rewarding moral the film holds is its honesty, instead of a romanticizing or a take on a daisy dominion. Thanks to a literate script, a well-read director and some very fine acting, it manages to stay a permanent memory.

Rebecca DeStevens