Clean Slate (1994)

The sole reason to see CLEAN SLATE is to admire director Mick Jackson
(THE BODYGUARD, L.A. STORY), who seems to have inherited the smart style
and comic timing of director John Landis.  We'll know for sure on May
25, when Landis' BEVERLY HILLS COP III arrives, but, for now, Jackson is
my first choice to direct a BLUES BROTHERS sequel.

CLEAN SLATE stars Dana Carvey as an amnesiac detective who loses his
memory each morning. Shades of GROUNDHOG DAY?  Every day is a new day
for a hero who has to rely on his tape-recorded notes from the day
before. What he learns from listening is that, among other things, he's
the key witness in a mob murder and may be sleeping with his best
friend's wife.

The plot has more holes than a post-earthquake L.A. freeway, but this
gumball gumshoe is made bearable by Jackson's direction and an oddball
supporting cast that includes Kevin Pollack, Olivia d'Abo, Michael
Murphy, James Earl Jones (!), and Gailard Sartain (!!). Forget Carvey,
though-- he spends the entire film waiting for something funny to happen
to him.

Grade: C-