Permanent Midnight
Brand: Lions Gate
Categories: Movies & TV, Studio Specials, Lionsgate Home Entertainment, Lionsgate DVDs Under $15

Like the book it is named after and based on, "Permanent Midnight" is a chronicle of downfall. Jerry Stahl, the story goes, showed promise when doing shifts as a porn writer for "Hustler" and "Penthouse", and his promise landed him in the exact center of television's hottest shows of the 1980s. Alas, Stahl also brought with him a gargantuan appetite for drugs, most damagingly heroin. The film begins with Stahl, played by Ben Stiller, working in a fast-food chain on his way back to society from the drug-addled skids and recovery. He's lured away from work, where in a hotel room with Maria Bello (as Kitty) he begins detailing his fall from TV's top (where he wrote for shows like "Alf" and "Moonlighting", among others). Director David Veloz does great work in leading viewers through the episodes in addiction and excess, making the action seem naturally odd. There are priceless shots of Stahl and his coke-smoking buddy on an upper floor of a high-rise smoking and leaping into the windows--which don't break, of course. Stiller does a classy job of staying monochromatically zoomed in on scoring and shooting dope. He's sweaty and freaked out at the right times and grimy and desperate, too. The movie's a sad one, with Stahl's journey taking him through an arranged marriage (which benefited him enormously) to the couple's having a baby to getting busted on a rare occasion alone with the infant. It's a visceral script, replete with lots of intravenous drug use and Stahl/Stiller creating a recurring motif out of shooting the bloody drawback from the syringe onto the ceiling, making a mad little scribble. "--Andrew Bartlett"


Genre: Action & Adventure
Format: Multiple Formats, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Widescreen, NTSC, Anamorphic
Contributor: Mary Thompson, Jay Paulson, Owen Wilson, Chauncey Leopardi, Jerry Stahl, Spencer Garrett, Lourdes Benedicto, Connie Nielsen, Ben Stiller, David Veloz, Fred Willard, Maria Bello, Elizabeth Hurley, Charles FleischerMary Thompson, Jay Paulson, Owen Wilson, Chauncey Leopardi, Jerry Stahl, Spencer Garrett, Lourdes Benedicto, Connie Nielsen, Ben Stiller, David Veloz, Fred Willard, Maria Bello, Elizabeth Hurley, Charles Fleischer See more
Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Runtime: 1 hour and 28 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer: No
MPAA rating: R (Restricted)
Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.38 x 0.6 inches; 2.96 Ounces
Director: David Veloz
Media Format: Multiple Formats, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Widescreen, NTSC, Anamorphic
Run time: 1 hour and 28 minutes
Release date: February 23, 1999
Actors: Ben Stiller, Maria Bello, Jay Paulson, Spencer Garrett, Owen Wilson
Studio: Lions Gate
Writers: David Veloz, Jerry Stahl
Number of discs: 1