davidjjenkins7 it is a tired excuse for film making when directors, writers, actors and actresses come together and make a 'harrowing', 'powerful', 'grim' movie about drugs, sex and whatever else they care to throw at the screen. Other movies that come to mind are the recent precious and the ribald Monster's Ball. They pretend to loath the ugliness of the reality they present but in actual fact revel in it. This movie is just such an example of worthy bourgeois film making passing itself off as insightful and profound. If anyone care to watch a film by sensitive film makers involved in telling real stories about real people with real problems, without the unnecessary dressage of actresses and their inflated personalities, check out anything by the wonderful Ken Loach (British) or the Dardenne brothers (Belgian).

Boba_Fett1138 No doubt that this is a professionally made movie but the story is truly lacking at times. The getting clean and finding conciliation with her son seem like two totally different things in the movie, even though they are obviously connected to each other. It's one of the reasons why I regard this as a disjointed picture.Other reasons are that not all story lines seems that relevant in the movie movie and not all get wrapped up properly. Some characters in the long run are pretty redundant ones. It makes the movie move slower than really necessary at times. The movie is already quite short now but in my opinion it could and perhaps also should had been even 10-20 minutes shorter.You can say a lot of things about this movie but you can't accuse it of not being original. Despite not having a so original story, the movie at all times keeps a realistic and original approach of things. I think this really says something about the directing qualities of Olivier Assayas.The movie gets entirely carried by Maggie Cheung. She acts in 3 totally different languages for a large part in this movie. You have got to respect that! Which other actor can say he or she is capable of doing that? But no, it wasn't always a character I could sympathize with, since she is still a kind of offbeat person. It still was the movie that introduced the western world to Maggie Cheung. Nick Nolte also of course plays one fine role, though his role is perhaps a bit more limited than you would expect. And man, how heavy was he on the bottle during the filming off this movie? At times his hands were shaking and he was touching his head. Something tells me this wasn't acting or part of his character. Nolte is of course notorious for his drinking problems. The Nick Nolte character and the Maggie Cheung character also don't really feel connected in this movie. as if they were making two completely different pictures at the time on their own. It just doesn't feel right, not even when they're together in the same scene. It feels like two captain on one ship, with each of them taking their own course.See it's for its fine directing but don't expect to be blown away by a terribly sad or powerful dramatic story.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Claudio Carvalho 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"

haaskivi I decided to rent the movie based on the fact that IMDb's ratings for the movie was 7.1 out of ten and also on the fact that Nick Nolte also appears in the film.The movie is basically about a washed up band member: Emily who is a heroin addict and the child she has abandoned who lives with her boyfriends parents.Nick Nolte plays the boy's guardian. After her boyfriend overdoses on heroin Emily spends the rest of the movie trying to get "clean" so she can try to reunite with her young son.The movie moves aimlessly between scenes of Emily trying to reconnect to her son's life in the states and her more recent life and struggle with addiction and past relationships in Paris. I found the movie to be tedious and drawn out.In the end the movie leaves the audience feeling disappointed and unsatisfied. To me, it was a complete waste of time.Felix!