Clean (2004)

Good concept, poorly executed.

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This movie is badly written and well acted, which is a shame because you're interested in the characters right away, and the movie begins as though it's going to be a different sort of drug redemption film, one that might just skate the line between glorification and demonization. Instead, the script loses it's emotional way and falls fast into a four star disappointment. Terrible follow-through. Both maggie cheung and nick nolte provide a fair- enough effort, yet their relationship never picks up any developmental speed. The other characters are quasi-interesting, but probably because we never really find out anything about them. Plus, the little boy didn't get the direction he needed, because he sounds like he's reading lines, to the point that you're embarrassed for the filmmakers that they even attempted the hook, line and cute-kid sinker. And finally, the music should be more than just set dressing in a story so critically dependent on rock credibility. Though i'd admit that there were a couple interesting sequences, i wouldn't recommend a film this weak to anyone. The script doesn't nearly get redeemed by any particular virtue of filmmaking.

To get the full, globe-trotting flavor of "Clean," one need simply note that Emily Wang is a Chinese immigrant living in Paris with her British rock star boyfriend, and that their child is being raised by the young man's parents in Vancouver, Canada. All I can say is that "Babel" clearly has nothing on this film when it comes to international story lines spanning widely varying cultures and time zones.Though a French film, "Clean" actually begins in the English-speaking section of Canada where Emily and her husband, Lee Hauser, both heroin addicts, are desperately attempting to jumpstart Hauser's fading music career. The couple seems to be patterned somewhat after John Lennon and Yoko Ono, since everyone around them seems to think that Emily's undue influence on him is bringing him down both personally and professionally. When Hauser dies of a drug overdose, Emily - who earned some renown of her own as a music show hostess on an MTV-style interview show on French TV a decade or so back - is arrested for heroin possession and sentenced to six months in prison. Upon her release, she returns to Paris, agreeing not to have any contact with her son until she can kick her drug habit and make a decent life for herself.As a cautionary tale about drug addiction in the music business, "Clean" doesn't show us anything we haven't already seen in countless films (and VH-1 specials) on this very same subject before. Yet, although the movie is a bit too scattered in its focus at times, when it is zeroing in on the things that really matter - Emily's attempts at overcoming her addiction and her efforts at forging a meaningful relationship with her young son - it is poignant, profound and deeply touching. The movie is blessed with a pair of outstanding performances by Maggie Cheung as Emily and Nick Nolte as Hauser's father, a kindhearted soul who believes in forgiveness and who offers a helping hand to a woman whose life, despite all her best efforts, is constantly teetering on the edge of disaster. Their scenes together, as the two characters reveal their fears, insecurities and even tentative hopes to one another, are both spellbinding and breathtaking, and show us what fine movie acting is really all about.

"Clean" is a journey. a visceral envelope sent to you in the mail. You open it and read a story of a life that catches you off guard, takes you in, and keeps you on your toes; alert to the nuances of Nolte's minimal, muscular facial tics and the fluid, emotional lensing of Maggie running down and up escalators, for her life, for her son. It is rare to see such brilliant roles for so many women. How did Nolte come to this role? Perfect. His work with James Dennis was tender and directorial. Compelling cinematography, editing; sometimes breathless. Both these actors nail it. The supporting cast follows. Depicting the music business in fleeting evasive moments of distance, grittiness, and flash, is from the point of view of Emily, real and poignant, and ultimately a deserving condemnation and finally transcendence through sheer will, with a bit of streetwise skill thrown in for good measure. I love the characters, especially the obvious ones and some less obvious. A writer who directs his own script and an ex wife as well, in the present climate of international movie-making...is to be celebrated and acknowledged for the human story he tells from the point of view of a woman. The style and emotional, cinematic realism is brilliant. Finally it is a story about forgiveness of ourselves and others and the redemption that brings. This is a political film and a beautiful original form.

The former successful forty-two years old rock star Lee Hauser (James Johnston) is decadent and his friends blame his girlfriend Emily Wang (Maggie Cheung) for the fall in his career due to excessive use of drugs. Their son Jay (James Dennis) is raised by his grandparents Albrecht Hauser (Nick Nolte) and Rosemary Hauser (Martha Henry) in Vancouver. When Lee dies of overdose in a motel room, Emily is sentenced to six months in jail. She moves to Paris where she unsuccessfully struggles to keep clean. When she decides to retrieve the guard of he son, she is supported by her father-in-law and finds the necessary strength to rebuild her life."Clean" is a heavy drama of second chance in life with great performances of Maggie Cheung and the boy James Dennis, who probably has the strongest lines with the rejection to his mother. Nick Nolte performs an experienced nice man that believes in forgiveness, but he, actor, seems to be tired. The inconclusive end makes the optimistic viewer like me believes in a final redemption of Emily, but it is open to different interpretations. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Clean"