In "Clean Slate" a private investigator with retrograde amnesia must remember the facts of a crime and recover a lost coin. Dana Carvey plays Maurice Pogue, a goofy private detective who wakes up one day with no memory of what happened the day before. Suffering from retrograde amnesia stemming from an injury suffered while fighting crime, Pogue learns much about his situation from a recording made the day before. He tells himself to keep his condition a secret because he is a witness in an important case against a mobster. It is important here to note that Pogue has a one-eyed Jack Russell dog who runs into walls, providing much mirth throughout the film.
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Police visit Pogue at his office and take him to his own birthday party. Here he meets Sarah, a woman whose voice appeared in one of his reminder recordings. His friend and Doctor Dolby tells him later that Sarah is dead, that the woman he met had to be someone else. Later, Pogue meets with Cornell, the man responsible for his injury. He tries to buy Pogue off to keep him from testifying against him. Pogue's records indicate that Cornell and Sarah were romantically involved in the past. He ascertains that he was injured in an explosion that was meant to kill Sarah because of the incriminating evidence she had about Cornell. The question now is whether or not she is actually alive. When he meets with the woman who claims to be Sarah, she tells him that the woman who died in the explosion was a body double. She also informs Pogue that he is in possession of a rare coin that she entrusted to him after stealing it from Cornell. But he can't remember where he put it because of his amnesia. She recalls that he said something about "Baby".
The next day when Cornell comes to Pogue's apartment to confront him, Pogue doesn't recognize him and mistakes him for his landlord. Sarah comes by and the two eventually realize that Baby is the name of Pogue's dog. They find the coin in the dog's collar. Later, Pogue realizes that Sarah isn't the person she claims to be, so he hides the coin from her. She later reveals that she is actually the body double, hired to impersonate Sarah. She is kidnapped by Cornell.
Cornell abducts Pogue and tries to get the coin from him, but Pogue escapes. Cornell is captured and Pogue falls out of his chair during the trial and regains his memory. Pogue reveals that he put the coin in a parking meter. Cornell is convicted and Pogue lives happily ever after with Beth.
Best part of story, including ending:
It was simple entertainment to watch, sometimes kind of funny.
Best scene in story:
The jack russell comedy was enjoyable.
Opinion about the main character:
Dana Carvey's Pogue was just so doofy, it could get annoying.
