Clean and Sober (1988)

A hustling drug addict checks himself into rehab to escape trouble with the law and realizes that it's exactly what he needs.

Director:

Glenn Gordon Caron

Writer:

Tod Carroll

Stars:

Michael Keaton, Kathy Baker, Morgan Freeman

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Keaton	...	Daryl Poynter
Kathy Baker	...	Charlie Standers
Morgan Freeman	...	Craig
Tate Donovan	...	Donald Towle
Henry Judd Baker	...	Xavier
Claudia Christian	...	Iris
J. David Krassner	...	Tiller
Dakin Matthews	...	Bob
Mary Catherine Martin	...	Cheryl Ann
Patricia Quinn	...	June (as Pat Quinn)
Terri Hanauer	...	Admissions Counsellor
David A. Kimball	...	Doctor
Veronica Redd	...	Head Nurse - Detox
Sharie Doolittle	...	Nurse
Sharon Medearis	...	Nurse

Storyline

Michael Keaton plays Daryl Poynter, a hot shot real estate agent who just happens to have a cocaine and drinking problem. One morning, he wakes up to find a dead woman in his bed (someone he had been partying with the night before) from a cocaine overdose. He also just happens to receive a phone call from his employers telling him a huge sum of money is missing from one of his accounts. Panicking, Daryl decides to check into a drug rehab to hide from the law, where he meets tough cookie Morgan Freeman. A recovering addict himself, he now works as a drug counselor, and knows all the tricks Daryl tries to pull. Soon Daryl discovers he just might be in the right place, after all.

---

Plot Keywords:

cocaine | drinking | real estate agent | 12 step program | drunkenness | 

---

Taglines:

Michael Keaton...in an unexpected film...about thirty remarkable days in the life of an ordinary man.

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 August 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Süchtig

Filming Locations:

Darby Borough, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$8,674,093

Company Credits

Production Co:

Imagine Films Entertainment,Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Daryl Poynter (Keaton) refers to a character's overdose, by comparing her to John Belushi. Michael Keaton was offered (and subsequently declined) the role of Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters (1984), a role originally created for John Belushi. He also refused the role of Egon Spangler.

---

Quotes

Darryl: Thank you. And thanks for my chip. And thanks for not smoking.

---

Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Oscar Surprises for 1988 (1989)

---

Soundtracks

Tighten Up
Written by Billy Buttier and Archie Bell
Performed by Archie Bell & The Drells (as Archie Bell and The Drells)
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

Harsh realism. (minor spoilers)

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."