Clean and Sober
August. 10,1988 RHotshot real estate salesman Daryl has a bad cocaine habit. After embezzling his company's money, he wakes up next to a girl who overdosed. To hide from the police, he checks into a rehabilitation program guaranteeing anonymity. Under the mentorship of counselor Craig, Daryl accepts that he has a substance abuse problem. As he falls in love with fellow patient Charlie, Daryl begins committing to a newly sober life.
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Reviews
Let's be realistic.
Film Perfection
I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible
A story that's too fascinating to pass by...
Clean and Sober is a sobering drama about the tragedies of addiction. Michael Keaton is Daryl Poynter, a fast-talking washed up real estate who finds an acquaintance in his bed, dead from a cocaine overdose, and himself facing real criminal sanctions after money goes missing. As a drug and alcohol addict, though refusing to admit it, he checks himself into a rehab clinic only to avoid his employers who are looking for the missing money and cops who want to interrogate him about the dead girl. For Daryl, rehab is only a safehouse, not a reality. He doesn't face the fact that he has real problems and needs real help to get back on his feet. Things are whirling too quickly out of control for him to keep up on the outside and his experiences in the clinic are his own, sobering experience.The clinic is overseen by a former addict, Craig (Morgan Freeman), who is Daryl's counselor who can only help Daryl when Daryl helps himself. Craig tires playing games with Daryl, who has no interest in cleaning up, but only hiding out, and even faces getting kicked out. Daryl finally wakes up largely due to interactions with fellow residents in the clinic, each having their own horror story about how their addictions tore apart their lives in one way or another, putting them in debt, neglecting their families, neglecting their health and so forth. Daryl slowly starts to witness the reality and stops considering everything to be a big joke. These are real people with real problems, and he's one of them. He even goes so far to try to help someone else recover from the pitfalls of their addictions, befriending Charlie Standers (Kathy Baker), who still lives with an abusive, junkie boyfriend. Unfortunately, for her, she is beyond saving, and her helplessness leads to her own destruction.After watching Clean and Sober, you can see similarities between the stories as well as the characters among this film, the Sandra Bullock comedy, 28 Days, and the Angelina Jolie drama, Girl Interrupted. It is a powerful, though sad, drama and one well performed by all involved. And, it is, as a previous viewer wrote, "an honest look at real people."
Clean And Sober was one of those little films that critics loved, but didn't appeal to the mass audience and thus is unfairly forgotten. I have always admired Michael Keaton's work. He is one of those actors who can do both comedy and drama and do it very well. 1988 was an incredible year for Keaton, he was even featured on the cover of Newsweek. He was in two films that year where he played parts that were as different from each other as night and day and he was awesome in both. In Beetlejuice he played a comedy part. He was hilarious as a lecherous scuzzball from hell. He was just too funny to be scary. That was as original a comedy as you would ever see and it was due largely to Keaton's wonderful performance. In Clean And Sober he plays a dramatic role just as awesomely. This film is dark and gritty and at times depressing. You feel drawn into the darkened world of drug addiction where there is no hope and no light at the end of the tunnel. Watching Darryl Pointer's tortured life reminded me of a poem I heard that went Now hollow fires burn out to black and the lights are dimming low Square your shoulders lift your pack leave your friends and go Fear not my friends, naughts to dread look not left or right In all the endless hell you walk there is nothing but the night Darryl is a real "anti-hero" in so many ways. He is self centered, very abrasive and he just checks himself into the rehab center to get the heat off himself because after a night of boozing and coking there is a dead girl in his bed. At first glance, Darryl is a real sob (even Keaton said that he was at first tempted to turn this role down because "this guy is such a pig"). BUT, but you still care about this guy because Michael Keaton's amazing acting makes Darryl seem so real to you. You say to yourself "God help him, let him see the light before its too late". Morgan Freeman was relatively unknown at the time, but he carries the load as Darryl's almost saintly counselor. There is one scene that takes place when they are both at a urinal (how touching!) where he tells Keaton to take it one step and one second at a time. SPOILER ALERT!SPOILER ALERT! Kathy Baker gives a fine performance as well as another addict that Darryl ends up really connecting to. You feel so sorry for this woman and sense the pain that she has inside as well. I think her biggest problem was just plain self hatred. How can other people love you if you don't love yourself? The most painful lesson that Darryl learns is that you can't control other people's lives and change their destinies. It's wonderful when you see this man who was so self centered start caring about other people and realize the truth about his own addictions. Critics raved about Keaton's performance one said "Give Michael Keaton the Oscar for Clean and Sober" Maybe its because this film was so dark and gritty and almost "film noir" like that it wasn't given the credit that it so justly deserves.
this movie was very dark, but, it shows and teaches you how bad drugs really are. michael keaton is sent to drug rehab, for his strong drug abuse and use through people he had talked to, and strangers, and the rehab tries to teach him a lesson to learn. morgan freeman is wonderful in this movie, as another man in the rehab with keaton. very strong, compelling drama, that is very watchable, and intersting.
CLEAN AND SOBER (1988) ***1/2 Michael Keaton, Kathy Baker, Morgan Freeman, M. Emmett Walsh, Tate Donovan, Claudia Christian, Brian Benben. Keaton gives a tour de force performance as chemical addict businessman facing big troubles and decides to cool off in a detox/rehab center run by a no-nonsense counselor (excellent Foreman). Great acting and tight, realistic direction from Glenn Gordon Caron (creator of tv's "Moonlighting" in this his feature film debut) and Baker's scenes with Keaton recall the desperation of Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick in "The Days of Wine and Roses". Watch Keaton's modulated reaction on learning of a tragic event. Heart-wrenching at times.