Clean
Palm Pictures | Release Date: August 12, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Can a misguided adult start afresh with a new set of values and priorities? This ambitious drama, directed by one of France's most resourceful filmmakers, explores that crucial question in depth and detail. Read full review
100
PremiereGlenn Kenny
A superb effort by a first-rank director, and manna from heaven for Cheung fans. Read full review
100
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Cheung gives a revelatory performance. Read full review
100
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Cheung is one of the finest actresses working today, an expressive, lustrous beauty capable of plumbing a boundless range of emotional hues. This is the greatest performance she's given to date. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Beautifully shot and cut, written with a visceral aversion to cliche, deftly skirting sentimentality, sensationalism and simplicity, it continually surprises, engages and satisfies. For a small, unheralded film, it's a knockout. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
One of the most emotionally honest movies about drug addiction ever made. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Emily is played by Maggie Cheung with such intense desperation that she won the best actress award at Cannes 2004. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Clean, director Olivier Assayas' spellbinding study of a junkie trying to get her life in order so she can reclaim custody of her child, avoids the pitfalls, brilliantly. Read full review
83
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Nolte brings this movie a piece of his heart, and grants us peace. Read full review
80
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Albrecht brings out a side of Mr. Nolte rarely seen on the screen, and he gives a deep and touching portrayal of a haggard, beleaguered older man. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
The emotional truthfulness of Clean enters into our bloodstreams with its muted vigor, and we find ourselves getting hooked by this tale of getting unhooked. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
Clean is one of those movies that's slightly off the mark in ways that are hard to put a finger on, but it is shot so soulfully and features such beautiful performances that it's easy to forgive the occasional false note. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Not your average divorce gift: Clean's writer-director Olivier Assayas created the role of recovering rock-world druggie Emily Wang for his ex-wife, art-house/action-pic royalty Maggie Cheung (In the Mood for Love). Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
The film gets its distinction from the performances by Cheung and Nolte, whose scenes together are suffused with loss and unexpected mutual compassion. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Cheung and Nick Nolte seem unlikely co-stars, but co-star they do in Clean, giving gritty performances under the direction of Frenchman Olivier Assayas. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
When these two powerhouse performers come together, a rather predictable tale ignites with surprising force. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Clean has the same mixture of human tenderness and borderline-silly Eurochic that marks Wenders films like "Until the End of the World." Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneJessica Reaves
Clean is above all a movie about making peace with uncertainty and doubt and living with the aftershocks of the choices we make. Not the easiest task, but it may be what redeems us in the end. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
The rough, exposed emotional candor of Cheung's singing voice carries into her performance. Read full review
70
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Hitting the ground in his ultra-naturalistic mode, Assayas only uncages his star's formidable smile once or twice and never demands our empathy, making Clean a uniquely pungent portrait of dependent personalities and the strain they put on the social weave. Read full review
70
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
It's the moral journey of Nolte's character that is the real story in Clean, but Assayas instead focuses on the manipulative habits of an addict, resulting in a mannered study of narcissism and self-pity. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
It's not so much a movie in three acts as three movies stuffed into a single casing, and often showing the strain. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterRay Bennett
Complex but cold tale. Read full review
60
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
Maggie Cheung, who was in Assayas's Irma Vep, plays Emily with a semi-detached feeling--observing the role as much as portraying it. The chief pleasure in the picture is Nick Nolte's performance as the boy's paternal grandfather. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleJohn McMurtrie
An unflinching look at the ravages of substance abuse, and it's also a sobering redemptive tale. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Cheung can't make the woman very interesting in her own right--the most compelling performance here is Nolte's. Read full review
40
EmpireAlan Morrison
Bit of a mediocre drama from writer-director Assayas despite some good turns, not least from Nick Nolte and Beatrice Dalle. Read full review
40
VarietyDavid Rooney
Dramatically pallid and unconvincing. Despite being written for her, the director's "Irma Vep" muse Maggie Cheung seems oddly miscast here and is ill-served by an emotionally underpowered screenplay that rarely gets beneath the surface of the character's problems. Read full review
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