Chrysanthepop Olivier Assayas's 'Clean' takes an in depth look at the life of a young widow who tire to get her life back on track after her former life, that of sex, drugs and rock and roll ended in the death of her husband and a six-month prison sentence. The movie isn't as much about drugs as it is about the struggle of a woman to stay clean and turn her life around in order to prepare herself to be a better mother. The story is told with a lot of subtle dark undertones but it is told with sincerity and there is no pretension about it. Assayas really avoids clichés and his main intention really seems to be to tell a genuine human story. Maggie Cheung delivers a breathtaking performance as the desperate Emily Wang. This is perhaps her final film before she's moved into retirement (though I hope she does come back and do more films because it would be a waste of her talent). Her performance is subtle but it speaks volumes. Likewise, Nick Nolte does an equally amazing job as Emily's sympathetic and strong-minded father-in-law. It is easily one of his best performances. The supporting cast does well too. Beatrice Dalle especially stands out as Emily's friend. In addition, the soundtrack is pretty mesmerizing and it wonderfully adds to the film giving voice to the silent moments. 'Clean' is relevant film especially for those who have survived addiction and still struggle with it every day but that is not to say that it's another one of those preachy this-is-what-you-should-do movies. It has a universal appeal and if Maggie Cheung has chosen this as her last film then it's a fine choice (but of course I hope that she does come back to do more).

Mark Greene How many cigarettes do characters need to smoke on screen before one is tempted to suggest this film cripples itself in a endless, looping tribute to French cinema circa 1965 a la Jean-Luc Goddard? That M. Cheung won best actress for this at Cannes is absolutely baffling, suggesting again that there is much more than meets the eye to jury selection and awards at festivals. Cheung's character travels a flat-line arch; there is no development. No explanation is provided for her character's 'getting clean' other than forced detox in prison, buffered by methadone and then, brace yourself, so she can be trusted to see her son (whom she basically abandoned years ago). Drug use, abuse and addiction can offer some opportunities for storytelling. How one gets there, how one stays there and how one gets out (if at all, see 'Leaving Las Vegas'). Not much of an attempt is made to find out why Cheung's character is/was such a loser, the mother-son bond appearing only as a bald attempt to create character motivation. Clearly in love with itself, this film stood me up. I'm sorry it wasn't better.

krishna_rao2 I think the movie has been made with a good intention, however it is far from reality. The reason why i am stating so boldly is, i myself counsel at a halfway house, interact with them and constantly try to figure out what works for them to overcome. The role played by Maggie was Worthy watching, what i meant by commenting 'far from reality' is the movie shows a high profile couple addicted to heroin. Maggie's decision to give up drugs to get back her son Jay was clearly not portrayed well. If giving up drugs was so easy, i don't think anybody would like to be hooked on to it. A strong motivation surely helps, however cannot be the only factor for somebody to recover from addiction. The movie shows as though all her friends are concerned with her addiction and want her to get back to normal life, in real life, co-addicts are the greatest friends of addicts. A similar hangout place or a simple stress can trigger an addict to relapse, Maggie seems to miraculously win over everything in no time.

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/