Pogue's investigation is less a story than a series of comic sketches his misadventures include a visit to his doting mother, at which he must reminisce about friends and family he doesn't remember, and Lover, and she's supposed to have died in a car bombing, the same one that caused his amnesia. A slinky model, she too is mixed up in the case of the missing coin, and like any good femme fatale, she's hiding something: she's Pogue's Matters are further complicated by the breathlessly sexy Sarah Novak (Valeria Golino), who rushes into Pogue's office claiming men are trying to kill her.
Meanwhile, Dolby's assistant Rosenheim (Kevin Pollak), Pogue's best friend, isĬonvinced his sexy cop fiancee (Olivia d'Abo) is cheating on him, and all evidence points to Pogue.
Pogue must also solve the mystery of the missing coin before the trial wheelchair bound District Attorney Dolby (James Earl Jones), another longtime friend, is counting on his testimony. First thing this particular morning, he's hauled off to the local police station by a pair of stone-faced cops expecting the worst, he finds himself at a surpriseīirthday party-his own. Pogue's tape warns him that he must hide his memory loss from everyone, which naturally results in many complicated situations. This would be merelyĪnnoying if he were not scheduled to testify in court against a vicious gangster named Cornell (Michael Gambon), who regularly threatens to kill him and worse if he doesn't hand over the coin. It informs him-and us-that since being injured while investigating the theft of a rare coin worth $7 million, Pogue has suffered from a rare form of amnesia that wipes his memory clean every night while he sleeps.
Makes laboriously each night and leaves by his bedside. He has no idea who he is or what he's up to his closet is filled with an array of clothes so disparate that he could be anything from an investment banker to a cowpoke. Venice, California private eye Maurice Pogue (Dana Carvey) awakens each day with a problem. A mild-mannered comedy about an amnesiac private detective who keeps reliving the past because he can't remember it, CLEAN SLATE aspires to the whimsical appeal of GROUNDHOG DAY without success.