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"Comfortably Numb" (2004) TV Movie
Extract
John Preston
2/1/2004
The Sunday Telegraph
After a while in this job you develop a nose for trouble, and in the case of television drama, certain infallible signs point the way. Any hint of improvisation is a signal to head for the hills without delay. The involvement of "non-professional actors" is another tacit invitation to pull down the visor. And as for improvised plays involving non- professional actors and set in drug rehab clinics . . . well, give me the maggots anytime.
So it was with considerable surprise, not to mention alarm, that I found myself sitting through almost two hours of Comfortably Numb (last Sunday, Channel 4) without either dropping off or losing the will to live. It followed the efforts of Jake (Hans Matheson) to face up to his drink problem. An unnecessary whiff of showbiz had been added to the mix by making Jake a musician whose record company had just dumped him - but apart from that nothing felt either forced or phoney.
As well as being free of self-indulgence, it carried enormous conviction. This was due in large part to the performance of Matheson - one of the few professional actors involved. His passage from aggression to fear to panic and to something like acceptance of his plight by the end was as affecting as it was understated. Indeed, I haven't seen anyone command the small screen so effectively in a long time.
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