Clean

Maggie Cheung stars as a rock widow and recovering heroin addict who wants to regain custody of her child. Nick Nolte plays the grandparent who has the kid, and the cities of London and Paris play themselves in this largely textural ode to dreamy, Velvet Underground-inspired soft rock. The soundtrack and cinematography are great, if you like Eno and expertly crafted hand held shots and Tricky and precision color balance and lighting. Maggie Cheung and Nick Nolte are both excellent and play very well off each other. But there’s too much mood and not enough meat in the story as it fails to follow a sharp trajectory and winds up overly enamored with its own artistry. Still, as an extended rock video, Clean is an aesthetic treat.