Clean (2005)
Clean Photos
Movie Info
Watch it now
Cast
as Emily Wang
as Albrecht Hauser
as Jay
as Elena
as Irene Paolini
as Vernon
as Lee Hauser
as Rosemary Hauser
as Jean-Pierre
as Sandrine
Critic Reviews for Clean
All Critics (66) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (48) | Rotten (18) | DVD (3)
The one-two combination of Nolte's essential generosity and decency as an actor with Cheung's innate levelheadedness nicely gets around the customary trumped-up "conflict" movies over-rely on.
A disappointment.
Cheung makes her character work, despite a weak plot and script, both by director Assayas.
Maggie Cheung gives an astonishingly complex performance as a junkie rock star trying to clean up her act.
There are so many quiet, understated miracles unfolding in Clean that all you can do is watch in awe and amazement.
It helps -- immensely -- that Cheung is pitch-perfect. Her performance is heartbreaking.
Audience Reviews for Clean
Clean works as a thoughtful, smart, and realistic look at drug abuse and the ramifications from it. It features a powerful and nuanced performance by Maggie Cheung and Nick Nolte, albeit in a similar role for him. It doesn't opt for cliched resolutions or answers, but is really quite authentic. At the same time, the film does have an overly slow pace, which borders on meandering, and does seem to occasionally lose focus, at first attempting to introduce various subplots, but never quite paying them off. Still, an effective drama marked by strong acting. 3.5/5 Stars
Super Reviewer
Impossible not to think about Kurt and Courtney, even if inspite of choosing to bring up a "glamourous" drug and rock n´roll world (or the typical approach of junkies trying to clean up), the movie focus on a woman trying to change her life and to get her son back. Another interesting point is that it´s not really a sweet movie about mother and son knowing each other and getting close. Emily is not likeable and she´s not even sure if she wants to settle down. However, it´s more to a "typical" drama movie than any other Olivier Assayas´s movies (I´ve seen) where "nothing really happens".
Super Reviewer
Clean is all about the slow burn. It keeps itself thankfully distanced from the histrionics and melodrama of a typical drug movie, instead immersing itself in the ephemeral dream pace that most indie movies have. For what it's worth, not much actually seems to happen, and the development is far too subtle for most of the idiots on Flixster to comprehend. You can't blame people for finding the movie slow, but the path to recovering from addiction is a slow one. Maggie Cheung completely owned this role. She gives one of the most powerful, troubled, convictive performances I've seen in a very long time. Nick Nolte is great, as well, but this is Cheung's movie. Don't bother picking this one up if you consider yourself even slightly short of attention.
Super Reviewer
Clean Quotes
There are no approved quotes yet for this movie.