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Permanent Midnight

Permanent Midnight

Drama · 1998

Juggling increasing career success and a growing heroin habit, a television comedy writer attempts to go down a path of improvement.

Movie details

Permanent Midnight

“He had a great job, beautiful wife and a habit the size of Utah.”

1998 Drama 1h 28m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

5.9 / 10

Community rating

Juggling increasing career success and a growing heroin habit, a television comedy writer attempts to go down a path of improvement.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Permanent Midnight?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Rush

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Bad Lieutenant

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

David Veloz

Written by

David Veloz

Ben Stiller

Ben Stiller

Jerry Stahl

Elizabeth Hurley

Elizabeth Hurley

Sandra

Maria Bello

Maria Bello

Kitty

Owen Wilson

Owen Wilson

Nicky

Lourdes Benedicto

Lourdes Benedicto

Vola

Peter Greene

Peter Greene

Gus

Cheryl Ladd

Cheryl Ladd

Pamela Verlaine

Court is in session

Put Permanent Midnight on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.