This is such a well blended project, i seriously liked it. Ben Stiller was perfect for this role! Just the right type of personality, definitely not exactly a light hearted movie, just as Jerry Stahl's true life however, he wrote it so well those of us who understand his point can appreciate his story. I did, and i wouldn't change one word. Ben is seen in such a way here i believe he hasn't played anything similar since. I was surprised with certain scenes but happily! I am thankful to share insight into the personal life of this deep intelligent man who was behind the scenes in my youth per say. They even resemble each other so much. Mr. Veloz struck gold here, Elizabeth is a delight, i love her. It was fun to watch for me! I agree so underrated shame. I plan to read the books, and also the Beautiful lil girl playing Nina at the end was so adorable WOW! She reminded me of a cherub .. I couldn't locate her name, ethereal how she behaved , what a fantastic cast, she deserves recognition awe. Everyone involved did fabulous! It should be re-released ??? Needs awards !! BRAVO

With a cast that includes Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Janeane Garofalo, many people probably came into expecting a comedy. The trailer also sort of implied this. While Permanent Midnight has its funny moments, it's basically a drama.While this is based on the true story of TV writer Jerry Stahl, it fictionalized a bit. The shows Jerry works on in the movie are stand-ins for the ones he worked on in real life, for instance. Probably to avoid licensing issues.This was David Veloz's first (and to date, only) directorial job and it shows. It's not the direction is bad, but it's certainly nothing special and there are a few places where it's a little hard to follow.This doesn't drag the movie too far down though as it rests largely on the actors, specifically Ben Stiller, who shows any naysayers here that he can do drama. He does a great job portraying someone who's a likable guy with a pretty decent life who just keeps using more and more drugs until he starts freaking out in public, shooting up into his jugular and generally wrecking everything and losing whatever self-respect he had.Despite the subject matter, Permanent Midnight avoids becoming too depressing through bits of humor, a short (88 min) running time and an optimistic perspective.I doubt this is the best movie for scaring your kids off drugs, but recommended for people who like stories about overcoming or are fans of Jerry Stahl or any of the actors.

Permanent Midnight,First-Viewing, owned pirated DVD,(David Veloz)- Ben Stiller, Elizabeth Hurley, Maria Bello, Janeane Garafalo, Owen WilsonAn interesting true story of a TV writer (Stiller) who's heroin addiction causes him to go from a successful TV writer to working at McDonald's. This is David Veloz's directorial debut, and only film for that matter (watch this film and you will know why). The directing is not professional, and the transition between past and present is almost impossible to recognize, (is he telling us its not important?). Stiller gives a relatively good performance, didn't think he could handle a serious role like this, he wasn't bad, atlhough not great, as the script was pretty boring. The rest of the cast are OK, Owen Wilson is probably the stand-out, as Stiller's best friend. Overall, the screenplay was boring, the direction was not good, and the cast was convincing but not that great since the roles were pretty dull. It could have been much better, had someone like Charlie Kaufman wrote it (he wrote the amazing script for the story of Chuck Barris, a game show host in George Clooney's 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind'. 7/10

I think Ben Stiller is one of the most talented comic actors currently working, even though he is often in awful movies (e.g. 'Zoolander', 'The Suburbans'). 'Permanent Midnight' is one of the best movies he has been involved with and features what is arguably his single finest performance. Based on the autobiography of TV hack writer Jerry Stahl, this is a smart, fresh and blackly humorous look at addiction and Hollywood. Stiller has a fine supporting cast here, especially his buddies and frequent co-stars Owen Wilson ('Bottle Rocket') and Janeane Garofolo ('Reality Bites'), the amazingly charismatic star-in-the-making Peter Greene ('Laws Of Gravity'), and comedy veteran Fred Willard ('Best In Show'), who all have small but memorable roles. Hell, even Liz Hurley and Cheryl Ladd are good in this, believe it or not. 'Permanent Midnight' was, like so many other good movies that don't pander to a mass audience, a box office flop, but will hopefully find a larger audience in years to come via video and DVD. I think it is one of the most underrated movies of the last ten years, and highly recommend it.