Having been recommended this book by friend I did the usual and tracked down the movie version. Good move on my part, and thanks to my friend.
'Dangerous Parking' tells the story of a man named, Noah Arkwright, a (fictitious) successful independent film director, who after a long drug fueled orgy of a life, decides to trade it all in for rehab, sobriety, and the stability of a nuclear family. Yet his struggles to maintain his power over addiction become only secondary to a much more grave struggle, an illness that his addictions to drugs and alcohol have already put on him before he could sober up.
The entire film is narrated by Arkwright, sometimes in the first person, yet in many scenes he narrates as if he's an outsider watching himself act out a scene in a movie. The moments where he separates his narrative voice from his character in the film are positively brilliant and usually serve to bring humor to the situation quite effectively.
While the movie is mostly light on drama and heavy on comedy for the first three-quarters of the film, the last quarter of the film takes a decidedly darker tone, a tone which I didn't anticipate considering the majority of the film before that point had been comedic and humorous. This movie is both comedy and drama, emphasis on comedy (specifically dark comedy and British humor), with a dramatic conclusion to top everything all off.
The story structure is chronologically broken, consisting of several out of sequence scenes, often intertwined with flashbacks of Arkwright's life. It's quite simple and easy to follow the plot because Arkwright's narration sets up each scene rather well for the viewer but his narrations don't reveal everything leaving some rather fantastic surprises for the viewer to discover on his or her own.
The acting is fantastic, really, really amazing. Peter Howitt, who assumes the role of the protagonist (in addition to writing and directing the film) is stunningly powerful in this role. This performance is truly an achievement in acting, and if Howitt won awards for his work in this film I would be very deserved. Howitt's performance can only be so well appreciated due to him being surrounded by a great cast with equally well done performances. Saffron Burrows and Sean Pertwee put in top performances as well which only strengthen the absolutely flawless acting accomplished by Howitt.
If you are in the mood for a drama but don't want a heavy or overly serious drama there is no better film than 'Dangerous Parking' to watch. If you are in the mood purely for laughs I would recommend on holding off on watching this film as there are many moments where laughing is anything but appropriate. This is one of the best combination of comedy in drama in a film I have experienced in quite some time, truly refreshing, and any avid film viewing individual should not pass this movie up.
10/10. Will be recommending, the movie version, to all of my friends.
