My parents instilled a good set of values in me. Before I left my home-state of Connecticut for my Hollywood Experience in my early 20’s, I made a promise to them: Nothing in my arm, nothing up my nose; just do it how Harold Ramis said to do it in Knocked Up. I had some temptations, I was given a few “packages to deliver,” and believe me, when you’re in LA, no matter how lowly you are, anything’s possible. But it’s a promise I’ve always kept. And I think two big reasons that I kept that promise were my father’s urging of me to know the story of a man named Jay Moloney (Google if not familiar), and thru my experience of watching a variety of harrowing films depicting substance abuse, with one in particular, David Veloz’s Permanent Midnight, making a huge impression on me. This deeply underrated 1998 effort starred Ben Stiller in one of his best performances, portraying drug-addled TV writer Jerry Stahl (Alf, Moonlighting, Northern Exposure, so many others…) and his various exploits. Based on Stahl’s autobiographical book of the same name, the narrative takes the form of the classic rise-and-fall tale, showing how a relatively small-time talent blew up rather quickly, eventually earning up to $5,000 per week writing for various productions. Only problem – he had an insane Heroin addiction to match, and much of the film details the nasty, intense effects of Stahl’s drug abuse and numerous attempts at getting clean. There’s a stinging quality to this movie that I’ve never forgotten, and it could never be a film that’s misinterpreted as a glamour piece for a hedonistic lifestyle. I’ve always loved when Stiller plays it serious (Greenberg, While We’re Young, Flirting with Disaster, and Walter Mitty are my other favorite pieces of acting from him), and while he’ll ALWAYS be Derek Zoolander, I can’t help but feel that this is one of the most personal performances of his career, the sort of project you invest yourself in only if you’re extremely interested in going to some truly tough and sad places on a daily basis. Maria Bello co-starred as a fellow detox survivor whom Stahl develops a unique friendship with, and Owen Wilson is ace as a fellow addict and one of Stahl’s friends. Elizabeth Hurley was in the prime of her sexiness as Stahl’s wife, Peter Greene makes an unforgettably sketchy appearance, and Janeane Garofalo reminds you of how much of a scene stealer she was when cast in the proper role. The film barely saw release which is a crime because if it were to come out now, we’d be talking an ENTIRELY different game; way more people would be sitting up and paying attention. I’d like to excerpt the last paragraph of Roger Ebert’s favorable review, because he always had such a fantastic way of bridging film history when he was writing in the moment. Case in point: “Last month I saw a revival of Otto Preminger’s ‘The Man with the Golden Arm,’ the first of Hollywood’s drug movies, with Frank Sinatra in the title role. Sinatra got an Oscar nomination for the role, in which he portrayed the pain of withdrawal. Stiller, playing Stahl, makes it look incomparably worse. Either the drugs are getting stronger, or the actors are.” Killer soundtrack, too.
Podcasting Them Softly 