Would I ever recommend a film that I don’t particularly like or enjoy? Strangely enough, that answer is yes more often than one would think. Even in films that miss the mark there can be a lot of value to be found, or something worth noting that no other film has. A great example of this would be the 1988 addiction and recovery drama Clean and Sober, recently reissued on Blu-Ray by Warner Archive.
In his first major break from being known solely as a comedic actor Michael Keaton stars as Daryl Poynter, a hot shot Philadelphia real estate broker who has run his life into the ground as a result of his substance abuse. He’s messed up on something or other 24/7. He has embezzled ninety grand from his boss’ company, and most of that money has been spent. He woke up next to a woman that passed away from a drug overdose, and now the police are asking questions. In a bid to keep the heat off of him, Daryl decides to lay low in a rehab clinic, despite the fact that he doesn’t think he’s an addict or that he has any problem other than rotten luck.
If nothing else, Clean and Sober remains a major achievement for Keaton. He’s the primary reason any of this works or holds together. Director Glenn Gordon Caron (a television veteran, delivering his first feature here) gets things off to an interesting start because Daryl is initially a fascinating character that’s elevated further by Keaton’s particular acumen for conveying anxious intensity. No one is forcing Daryl to go to rehab, and he clearly hasn’t decided to get help on his own. He’s resoundingly unsympathetic; possibly even irredeemable. From start to almost damn near the last seconds of the film, Daryl is a selfish man blessed with the addict’s ability to be a great liar when their backs are against the wall. Keaton plays it perfectly throughout, never making Daryl into a cuddly figure worthy of redemption, but credibly making him seem like someone who could eventually find a path to such revelations and self-awareness. It’s a tour de force performance that made people take notice at the time and holds up today, even if the film built around it is outdated.
The problem here is that nothing else – save for some under-utilized supporting turns from Morgan Freeman and M. Emmet Walsh as Daryl’s counsellor and sponsor, respectively – is up to the same standard as Keaton. Clean and Sober is two dimensional and shallow in every other respect. While any film that dares to take on the topic of addiction is something worth celebrating, this is as basic as these type of narratives tend to get.
Caron and writer Tod Carrol aren’t interested in looking at the roots of addiction, or showing addicts as complex people beyond the main character’s obvious personality flaws. Instead, Clean and Sober goes through virtually the same motions as every other addiction narrative. It’s all about the shaking, sketchy interpersonal relationships, ill advised romances, fears of relapse, etc. Clean and Sober is so hung up on the theatricality of performative addiction that it forgets to include any message that would make it relevant, which is unconscionable because – let’s face it – no one would knowingly watch this for the entertainment value. Yes, they are there for the drama inherent in the situation at hand, but they could’ve seen any number of other films of this sort and probably gotten more out of it. Those films just wouldn’t have the benefit of Michael Keaton in the lead.
Throw in some casual racism (the resident hulking crack addict, comparing another resident to a well endowed Ike Turner), outdated thinking (like suggesting you can spot an addict just by looking into their eyes), and an abrupt ending that incredulously suggests that all of these events could happen in the span of a month, and this thing almost falls apart completely; leaving Keaton as a pile of glue in search of something it can hold together. Keaton makes Clean and Sober watchable in spite of the film’s shortcomings, and elevates the film into something that might genuinely be able to help someone in a time of need. People like Daryl Poynter exist, and Keaton embodies that mentality with pure heart and soul. So yes, I don’t like Clean and Sober, but there’s enough here to recommend watching it at least once.
Clean and Sober is now available on Blu-Ray from Warner Archive.
