Best movie ever!

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Maggie Cheung plays a junkie rock ex-semi-star. Her common law husband, also a never- quite-made-it rocker in decline dies of a heroin overdose. She spends 6 months in prison for possession. Meanwhile her young son is being raised by her dead husband's parents. Nick Nolte, as the grandfather does some terrific, nuanced work as a flinty man, with a soft heart. He won't let Cheung see her son until she gets her life together, which she circuitously does, weaning herself off drugs, getting basic work, and eventually starting the process of reconnecting to her son, especially as Nolte realizes, with his wife dying, and his own aging, the boy will eventually need his mother. The film avoids the usual clichés and sensationalism of drug movies – no throwing up or screaming withdrawals. It's low key and real, filled with small moments of life rather than than dramatic highlights. It's willing to have lead characters who are unlikable and selfish at times, and yet still makes us care for, and be moved by them. But there's also a flatness to it. And a sense of familiarity and predictability to the plot, if not the execution. It's great that it doesn't fall into melodrama, but it feels distanced. As one critic put it 'it avoids moralizing, but fails to replace it with anything'. A bit harsh, but not without some truth. Also, Cheung, while very good in spots, never seems believable as a junkie; she's gorgeous healthy looking and luminous on drugs or off. On the other hand the photography is beautiful, and the score is filled with wonderful and effective music by Brian Eno.Worth a look for the acting, and the small grace moments throughout.

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.

Maggie Cheung turns in what is quite simply one of the greatest film performances I've ever seen. She doesn't portray Emily -- she IS Emily. If you watch the interviews on the DVD, she explains that she didn't anticipate what she was going to do in any scene, she just reacted in character to what happened to her. I know, I know -- a lot of actors say this. But this time I think it's really true. As a result her performance has a spontaneity, and a breadth and a depth, that is truly breathtaking.Did I mention that she's acting in three different languages? That hasn't been done since Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice, I believe. She's also completely convincing in portraying the character's downfall from chic rock star to humble waitress.This is not to take away from the other actors, who are also excellent, especially Nick Nolte (what an underrated actor he is!) and Don McKellen.PS I have friends who didn't want to see this because it sounded yet another movie about a junkie. Well it's not really -- that's only a secondary part of the story. It's really about a woman's transformation, and the victory of a mother's love over desperate circumstances.See it, see it, see it.

I just rented this film last night, and can't stop thinking about it. Prior to this film, I really never understood the "cult of Maggie Cheung," as I wasn't very impressed with her work in "In the Mood for Love" or "Hero." However, there was no mistake awarding Maggie Cheung Best Actress honors at Cannes for this performance...she was astonishing. And the fact that her performance was so strong speaking in English and French (with a little Mandarin thrown in there as well) makes it all the more remarkable.While Cheung is clearly the primary reason to see this picture, I happened to think it was an excellent story, and Nolte and the child actor were above average as well. What I liked about the plot so much was that I've seen so many films like this that end so horribly and depressingly. Instead, "Clean" ends on a positive (yet realistic I think) note, which was a refreshing change for the type of movie this is.Too bad this wasn't released in America closer to it's original release, and too bad it came and left in American theaters so quickly. It's one of the best American releases I've seen in 2006, and I doubt there will be too many that I will rank higher before the year is out.