Ben Stiller may be one of Hollywood’s beloved comedic actors, but he also has a dramatic side, which he has tapped into in everything from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty to his directing work on Severance. But to this day, one of Stiller’s best and darkest roles is in Permanent Midnight, directed by David Veloz. The film, which came out in 1998, is a ruthless, gritty biopic of the life of the television writer Jerry Stahl based on his memoir of the same name, which was released in 1995. (Funnily enough, Stahl wrote several episodes of the acclaimed limited series Escape at Dannemora, which Stiller also directed.) Permanent Midnight predated much of Stiller’s comedy work as part of the Frat Pack, but his comedic edge elevates this movie and gives it emotional nuance.
‘Permanent Midnight’ Does Not Shy Away from the Grim Realities of Addiction
Permanent Midnight is framed around the now-sober Stahl telling a new love interest, Kitty (Maria Bello), the story of his life as an addict in Los Angeles. In his flashbacks, Stahl flees New York for writing jobs in Los Angeles, falsely believing that it will be easier to quit his drug habit in Los Angeles (he is wrong, of course). Stahl agrees to a green card marriage with a British woman named Sandra (Elizabeth Hurley) by way of his friends Nicky (Owen Wilson) and Vola (Lourdes Benedictro). Because the story is told from Jerry looking back at his jumbled memories, the film doesn’t have a strong narrative arc, which feels intentional. The plot jumps back and forth in time in what resembles a drug-induced fog, and this adds to the disorienting effect of watching it, as if we are being swept into Jerry’s psyche along with him.
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“Now you will go to sleep, or I will put you to sleep.”
Like the realest and best movies about addiction, Permanent Midnight is hard to watch for most of its runtime. Stiller’s Jerry is frenzied and sometimes scary as his addiction becomes increasingly obvious, and he starts giving up on nearly everything in his life except obtaining drugs. The film deconstructs Jerry’s belief that he can be a functioning heroin addict and still manage a successful career. He lies to everyone in his life — coworkers, Sandra, friends — and has his methods down to a T. For instance, in one scene where he and Sandra are about to have sex, he then disappears into the bathroom, rummages through the medicine cabinet while flushing the toilet so it will mask the noise, takes pills, and then comes out of the bathroom to tell her he should be heading home. At this moment, not only do we feel for Sandra, who must be confused and thinking she did something wrong, but also for Jerry, because he is so deep in his addiction that he would rather be high and alone at home than with someone who loves him.
Ben Stiller Brings a Comedic Edge to a Tragic Story
Permanent Midnight is an excellent example of Stiller’s versatility, where he manages to bring a comedic light to this largely tragic role. Stiller leans into the absurdity of being an addict in Hollywood, which for him includes shooting up heroin after waking up, then making a wheatgrass smoothie and going for a long run before showing up super late to his meetings. In one scene, he meets with the director of a new show wearing an atrocious bright green suit, and sits slouched in the chair with his legs up in the air. Stiller’s physicality and complete lack of awareness of how he is coming across is funny and sad at the same time. He even says at the end of the interview after getting dismissed, “You do your thing, man,” exuding confidence when he really just rambled off a completely irrelevant story about his dad.
In another scene, he gets high in the bathroom at a party and hallucinates the character he writes for on TV, Mr. Chompers, an alien creature in a suit with a British accent. He battles Mr. Chompers at the door, and then the camera switches to show the people at the party watching Stahl wrestle with nothing. Permanent Midnight is a special and underrated moment in Stiller’s career worth a revisit. In a recent interview with Collider, Stiller was asked what project of his he wished more people saw, which brought him back to this very movie:
I’ve always liked that little movie
Permanent Midnight
that I did back in ‘97, ‘98 about Jerry Stahl, the comedy writer. It’s a true story. He was a heroin addict, and figured it out. I just always felt that was a good little movie. Every once in a while, someone will shout out, “Hey,
Permanent Midnight
!” It’s great.
With an Andrew Haigh adaptation in the works as well as the upcoming pickleball comedy The Dink, Stiller is the kind of artist whose next move we can never predict.
Permanent Midnight is available to watch on Prime Video in the U.S.
Permanent Midnight
- Release Date
- September 16, 1998
- Director
- David Veloz
- Cast
- Ben Stiller , Elizabeth Hurley , Maria Bello , Owen Wilson , Lourdes Benedicto , Peter Greene , Cheryl Ladd , Fred Willard , Charles Fleischer , Janeane Garofalo , Connie Nielsen , Sandra Oh , Jerry Stahl , Jay Paulson , Spencer Garrett , Chauncey Leopardi , Mary Thompson , Liz Torres , Douglas Spain , Scott Williamson , Nancye Ferguson , Sam Anderson , John Prosky , Andy Dick , Lainie Kazan
- Runtime
- 88 minutes
