Rolling Stone
"...Stiller's restless, haunting power makes PERMANENT MIDNIGHT impossible to shake..." 10/01/1998 p.76USA Today
"...Good performances from Elizabeth Hurley and others..." 10/02/1998 p.13E New York Times
"...[Stiller gives] a fine, rivetingly caustic performance....PERMANENT MIDNIGHT is as enveloping as it is darkly cautionary, thanks to the effectively varied layers of Mr. Veloz's direction and the bitter intensity Mr. Stiller brings to his central role..." 09/18/1998 p.E1 Los Angeles Times
"...PERMANENT MIDNIGHT's Hollywood segments are clever and amusing..." 09/18/1998 p.C12 Sight and Sound
"...PERMANENT MIDNIGHT extracts a supple performance from Stiller..." 11/01/2000 p.69 James Berardinelli's ReelViews 8 of 10
The dialogue is smart and the narrative voiceover is riddled with cynical, self-deprecating observations. Because the film is structured as an extended series of flashbacks after Stahl has successfully made it through rehab, we know that he's going to be all right in the end, so that allows us to laugh at the jokes while still recognizing the seriousness of the situation.... (Stiller gives) a fine performance.
The New York Times 8 of 10
In a fine, rivetingly caustic performance, Ben Stiller plays a man on a fashionably decadent slide all the way to rock bottom... Permanent Midnight is as enveloping as it is darkly cautionary, thanks to the effectively varied layers of Veloz's direction and the bitter intensity Stiller brings to his central role. Ms. Hurley, in a graceful performance, makes herself an especially bright light in the film's unmistakably Californian landscape. - Janet Maslin
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