Michael Keaton delivers such an intense, realistic and powerful performance in this movie, he should have AT LEAST been awarded an Academy Award nomination. This stands as his best dramatic performance ever, in a career filled with many fine dramatic and comedic roles. As Darryl Poynter, Keaton shows us a character that starts out as a total heel and a user, but is slowly transformed by his stay in a drug and alcohol rehab center (and his interactions with others there)into someone who genuinely begins to see the errors of his life and makes a concerted effort to change.
A fine ensemble cast adds to the drama, including Morgan Freeman, M. Emmet Walsh, Kathy Baker and Tate Donovan. The script by former National Lampoon writer Tod Carroll is filled with memorable characters and realistic situations and is further enhanced by the solid no-nonsense direction by Glen Gordon Caron.
An excellent and WAY under-appreciated movie that was thrown away by Warner Bros., "Clean And Sober is a riveting drama of rehabilitation and redemption that will stick with you long after you see it. True-life drama doesn't come much better than this. **** 4 stars
