Witness the rock and roll lifestyle: awesome music, lots of parties, and (of course) lots of drugs. Especially heroin, the drug of choice for great rockers like Iggy Pop and Lou Reed. But while some, like the aforementioned icons, manage to get off the smack, there are plenty that die from it.
Lee Hauser is one of the unfortunate ones. Early on in "Clean," Lee dies of an overdose, leaving behind a junkie wife, Emily (Maggie Cheung), his parents, Rosemary and Albrecht (Martha Henry and Nick Nolte), a mountain of debts, and a son, Jay (James Dennis) who lives with his grandparents. The movie is about Emily's journey to clean up her act and show Albrecht she is ready to handle the responsibility of caring for the son she barely knows.
While Lee seems to have been a popular guy in life, Emily is almost universally disliked. Bitchy half of the time and stoned the other, she's not an easy person to get to like. The one person connected with Lee who shows her any kindness is her father in law, Albrecht, who gives Emily the chance to redeem herself for her son and, though wary of her, truly seems to belive that Emily can fix up the mess she's made of her life.
Nolte gives a solid, surprisingly gentle performance as Albrecht. Watching him, it seemed like he actually felt the emotions he portrayed on screen. Nolte gives Albrecht the kind, caring demeanor he needs and, when faced with the idea of caring for Jay alone, a believable amount of confusion as to what he should do with the boy. Maggie Cheung also acts her part pretty decently. Her Emily seems realistically desperate and, at the end of the film, hopeful.
I had some major qualms, however, about the structure of the film. The audience is given very few moments with Albrecht, Rosemary and Jay. Like Emily, we hardly know them, and it would be hugely helpful if we did. The relationships within that family, especially between Albrecht and Jay, would be really great if they had been better developed. We also know nothing of Lee's relationship with his parents, or of Lee and Emily's practically non-existent relationship with their son. Jay's reaction to his father's death is very much delayed, and we have no idea how he feels about it until he meets his mother, which is not soon enough. The death of a parent experienced at a young age, especially in the circumstances presented, would have some kind of lasting impact on a child's development, and that is not shown at all. In fact, what little ire Jay does show towards his mother, he manages to shake off after spending one day with her.
The movie's issues aren't helped by the ending, which is not an ending at all, but merely a cutting-off of the plot. No resolutions are presented, which I thought was unfair. I don't care how unconventional a director wants their film to be, an ending should tie up at least one loose end instead of giving us the promise of a future resolution, followed by a scene that may or may not go anywhere.
"Clean" is the sort of movie that could be really great, if it were tweaked a little. As is, we are left with half-drawn characters, poorly shown relationships and an ending that leaves the audience dangling. As someone who watches movies for enjoyment, not to be bored for 111 minutes and left hanging, I was more than a little disappointed.