[6]

Ben Stiller gives a career-best performance in Permanent Midnight, based on Jerry Stahl’s autobiographical book of the same name. As Jerry, Stiller plays a Hollywood writer whose heroin habit almost destroys him. Elizabeth Hurley and Maria Bello play romantic interests, while Owen Wilson, Janeane Garofalo, and Fred Willard pop up in supporting roles. While Stahl’s downward spiral is certainly harrowing, complete with endangering the life of his own infant daughter, director David Veloz isn’t afraid to let tragicomic moments slip into the film from time to time. With material this bleak, I’m thankful. In real life, Stahl worked on such sitcoms as Alf, Thirtysomething, Northern Exposure, and Moonlighting. The film creates a fun rip-off version of Alf, with actor Charles Fleischer (Who Framed Roger Rabbit) doing the voice and puppeteering of the Alf-like character, Chompers. Stories about drug addiction are hard for me to watch (much less enjoy), but Stiller is good enough to make this one worth a gander.