This article is about the 1994 movie. For other uses, see Clean Slate (disambiguation).
Clean Slate
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Mick Jackson
Produced by
Gary Daigler
Lili Fini Zanuck
Richard D. Zanuck
Written by
Robert King
Starring
Dana Carvey
Michael Gambon
Valeria Golino
Michael Murphy
Kevin Pollak
Music by
Alan Silvestri
Cinematography
Andrew Dunn
Editing by
Priscilla Nedd-Friendly
Distributed by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)
May 6, 1994
Running time
107 min.
Country
U.S.A.
Language
English
Gross revenue
$7,355,425
Clean Slate is a 1994 American comedy film, directed by Mick Jackson. The film stars Dana Carvey as a private investigator who is the key witness in a murder case. After suffering a head injury however, he has developed a rare form of amnesia that causes him to forget anything that’s happened to him the previous day. This makes it hard for him to know who to trust, or if he even knows them at all. Valeria Golino, Michael Gambon, James Earl Jones, and Kevin Pollak co-star. The film is rated PG-13 for language.
Contents
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Plot
On a Monday morning, Maurice L. Pogue (Carvey) finds a tape recording which reveals that he has Korsakoff’s syndrome, a form of amnesia that prevents him from remembering anything that happened to him the day before. He realizes that he recorded the message to himself the previous night, a system he’s worked out to keep himself in the know. He also learns from the recording that he is a private investigator and obtained the condition after being injured during a case. The tape tells Pogue not to reveal his condition to anyone, as he’s the key witness in the case against the man responsible for his amnesia.
While listening to the recording, a strange woman (Golino) suddenly bursts into Pogue’s home/office. Pogue learns that her name is Sarah Novak, and that she’s been living under the alias Beth Holly. She tells Pogue someone’s trying to blackmail her, which is why she’s come to L.A. The police then come to Pogue’s office, and take him to what turns out to be his birthday party. When he tells his friend Dolby (Jones) that he’s seen Sarah, Dolby tells him that Sarah is dead. While at the party, Pogue also meets Anthony Doover (Michael Murphy), his doctor. Dr. Doover is the only person Pogue has revealed his condition to.
Pogue is lead from the party at gunpoint by two henchmen, who take him to meet Philip Cornell (Gambon), who is the man Pogue is to testify against. Cornell offers Pogue a large sum of money to deny he witnessed Cornell’s involvement in the crime. When Pogue goes through the cases file at his office, he learns that Sarah was once Cornell’s lover. When the two broke up, Sarah decided to testify against Cornell for fear that he might attempt to kill her because of her knowledge of his illegal activities. Sarah hired Pogue to protect her but was killed by a car bomb, the same bomb which caused his amnesia.
Later that night, Pogue meets Sarah at a fashion show she’s modeling in. She tells him the girl that was killed in the explosion was a double, and that someone’s threatening to tell Cornell she’s still alive. Sarah also tells Pogue about a valuable coin Cornell stole from the Los Angeles County Museum, which she in turn stole from him. Sarah tells Pogue that she gave him the coin the morning before the explosion; Pogue, of course, can’t remember. The only clue the two have about the coins location is one word Pogue said when Sarah gave it to him, “Baby.”
On Tuesday morning, Pogue has forgotten everything again. Cornell shows up to his office to get Pogue’s sworn statement but Pogue gives him a check for $800, mistaking Cornell for his landlord. Pogue tries throughout the day to figure out where the coin could be but doesn’t find any answers. Later on he meets with Sarah and the two spend some time together. She stays at his place for the night and the two make love.
Wednesday morning, when Pogue wakes up, he remembers everything from the day before. While trying to think of clues, Pogue finds out that his dog is Baby, and that he hid the coin in its collar. When he takes Sarah to a payphone to call the people who are blackmailing her, she writes “I love you,” on the window. Pogue notices her handwriting and the writing on the note the coin was wrapped in are different and realizes she must not really be Sarah Novak, so he switches the coin without her knowledge. He then follows her and finds that Dr. Doover and she have set him up in order to get the coin. When Doover says they’ll have to start all over again, Sarah (or the woman posing as Sarah) says she won’t do it anymore. That night, while sitting in Pogue’s car outside his office, the woman reveals into one of Pogue’s recorders that she’s really Beth Holly, and that Doover hired her because of her resemblance to Novak. Cornell’s men then kidnap Beth when they see her in Pogue’s car.
Thursday morning, Pogue wakes up to find Cornell and his men in his apartment. Cornell, who’s figured out that Pogue has the coin, takes Pogue to his home, where he attempts to torture him to give up the coin. Pogue and Sarah are able to escape, and rush to City Hall to get to Cornell’s trial. During the trial, Pogue falls back in his chair and hits his head, then suddenly regains his memory. He tells Beth that he put the coin in a parking meter and she speeds off to get it. Pogue then gives his testimony against Cornell which prompts Cornell to change his plea in the case. Pogue finds Sarah back at his apartment and the story ends when the two kiss and go inside.
Cast
Actor
Role
Dana Carvey
Maurice L. Pogue
Valeria Golino
Sarah Novak / Beth Holly
Jayne Brook
Paula
Olivia d’Abo
Judy
Michael Gambon
Philip Cornell
James Earl Jones
John Dolby
Michael Monks
Lieutenant Willis
Michael Murphy
Dr. Anthony Doover
Angela Paton
Shirley Pogue
Kevin Pollak
Donald Rosenheim
Vyto Ruginis
Hendrix
Gailard Sartain
Judge Block
References
- ^ “Clean Slate (1994)”, Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2008-12-02.
External links
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Films directed by Mick Jackson
Chattahoochee (1989) · L.A. Story (1991) · The Bodyguard (1992) · Clean Slate (1994) · Volcano (1997) · The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest (2002)
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Categories: 1990s comedy films | 1990s romantic comedy films | 1994 films | American films | Comedy films | Detective films | English-language films | Films shot in Los Angeles | Mystery films | Romance films | Romantic comedy films | Spy comedy films
