Maurice Pogue
Created by Robert King
Here's a minor little comedy that nonetheless deserves a little more attention than it received when it was first released in 1994. Clean Slate is, among other things, a gentle spoof of the hardboiled P.I./noir world world. Bumbling, not-too-bright-to-begin-with private eye MAURICE POGUE (Saturday Night Live's Dana Carvey) gets bumped on the ol' noggin, and ends up with a rare form of amnesia that makes everyday seem like the first day of his life; ie a "clean slate." Not an ideal malady to afflict a detective. It's kinda hard to investigate a case you forgot you were working on. And watch the small dog, the incredible sight-impaired, eye-patched Baby (played by Barkley) who steals every scene he's in.
Imagine a cross between Groundhog Day and The Big Sleep. Fans of the genre should get a kick out of some of the "in" jokes.
UNDER OATH
"The script is a technical gem in its construction, juggling
with logic, time and continuity. Dana Carvey is the (ideal) loony...for
this role." (E.Borgers, who runs the Hard-Boiled
Mysteries site, on Rara-Avis.
FILM