Review: Clean and Sober

Michael Keaton is a high-living real-estate broker who crashes hard after a night of cocaine abuse leaves his date literally lying cold the next morning. Keaton is already in hot poop having ‘borrowed’ money from a company escrow account (most of which he lost in the stock market), and with the cops breathing down his neck after his coked-up one night stand, he flees to a drug rehab facility. Oh not to curb an addiction, it’s just that he figures he can hide out there, living in blissful anonymity free of consequence. He’s completely adamant that he doesn’t actually have a drug problem, not even going through detox hell convinces him of that. His unresponsive and downright obnoxious behaviour in group therapy sessions angers his counsellor Morgan Freeman. Freeman just wants Keaton to quit wasting everyone’s time and leave so he can focus on healing those who are ready to admit to and face their substance abuse problems. Keaton isn’t interested in that, but one of the fellow patients does pique his interest, crane operator Kathy Baker who repeatedly rejects Keaton’s romantic advances. Baker is also in a relationship with a thieving, no-hoper enabler. How long will it take before stubborn, aggressively sarcastic Keaton finally wakes up to his very real and very obvious drug addiction? Quite a while it seems, given that Keaton spends less time in therapy than he does on the phone trying to smuggle drugs in for a ‘fix’ (using his drug counsellor’s phone no less!). M. Emmet Walsh (in one of his best parts) plays a former addict and Keaton’s sponsor, who seems to have replaced his drug addiction with chocolate addiction (I wholeheartedly approve!). Tate Donovan and Claudia Christian play other patients, whilst Brian Benben and Ben Piazza play Keaton’s work colleague and boss, respectively.

 

This 1988 directorial debut by Glenn Gordon Caron (creator of TV’s popular “Moonlighting”) may not be a cinematic masterpiece, but it is an affecting, sensationally well-acted drama about drug addiction. The director’s TV background shows in his rather bland visual approach that is perhaps suitable but not very interesting. However, the stunning performances and some honest storytelling sell the film nonetheless. Wild-eyed Keaton sometimes resembles a young Jack Nicholson in his displays of frustration and anger here. It’s a tremendous dramatic performance that the immensely talented (and versatile) actor. He is utterly convincing here, especially early on when going through withdrawal, and a rather pathetic phone call to his parents at a most desperate time. That scene on its own might be one of the best-acted moments in Keaton’s entire career. You want to throttle him in that moment. And remember, he played this role the same year as “Beetlejuice”, which is interesting for so many reasons.

 

Kathy Baker, Morgan Freeman (who has the worst haircut I’ve seen in a long, long while), and M. Emmet Walsh Walsh (one of the most underappreciated character actors of all-time) are perfectly cast in their supporting roles. The latter two in particular manage to effortlessly escape what could otherwise be preachy, clichéd roles. There’s a ‘no BS’ kind of honesty that both actors bring to their parts, a ‘we know every trick in the book so don’t even try’ quality, which is necessary for the characters given they’re up against a guy like Keaton, who is smart and calculating, but seriously in denial. That’s a dangerous combo if ever I’ve heard of one, and so the characters played by Walsh and Freeman need to be up to the task. It’s amazing to think that Freeman played this role the same year he was Oscar nominated for playing a dangerous pimp in “Street Smart”. Versatile much? The script by “National Lampoon” writer Tod Carroll (his only significant film credit) is mostly very effective, but imperfect. I felt that Keaton’s character transition seems to play out a bit too quickly for my liking. I feel like the semi-romance between Keaton and Baker, whilst enjoyable enough, is somewhat unnecessary in the grand scheme of things, and it could’ve been excised in favour of giving us more scenes showing Keaton’s progression from denial to acceptance to full recovery. I also think the music score by Gabriel Yared (“The English Patient”, “The Talented Mr. Ripley”) is typical 80s light comedy stuff that doesn’t fit the material. There’s actually a couple of comedic moments in the film that stand out like a sore thumb, too.

 

One of the better films about addiction, up there with “The Days of Wine and Roses” and “The Lost Weekend”. Despite some predictability and narrative issues, it is thankfully not at all schmaltzy or cheaply sentimental, even if the names Brian Grazer and Ron Howard among the producers might give you such an impression. See it for the excellent performances, including perhaps Keaton’s best-ever work on film. He should’ve been nominated for an Oscar here, a massive oversight by the Academy. He’s frighteningly believable here in this fairly authentic, no-BS treatment of drug addiction.

 

Rating: B+