”TWO THUMBS UP.” - EBERT & ROEPER

EBERT & ROEPER
TRANSCRIPT OF “CLEAN” RE-REVIEW
TAPE DATE: 6-7-06
AIR DATE: 6-10-06

RICHARD: Okay, next is “CLEAN” and neither the lead character nor the movie itself are easy to like, but there’s much to admire in this film. Maggie Cheung won Best Actress at Cannes in 2004 for her performance as Emily Wang, a hardcore drug addict. She’s an obnoxious, she’s headstrong, she’s a rock star wife, married to a talented but kind of second-tier artist. After a vicious fight, the husband OD’s and Emily winds up behind bars. Nick Nolte plays her in-law caring for her young son.

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RICHARD V/O:
Nick Nolte gives a magnificently understated performance as a man who is just nice, he’s just nice. He’s one of those guys who just wants to do what’s best for everybody.

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RICHARD: Emily is a mess, even after she cleans up and tries to reconnect with her son, she kind of comes across as mess-in-waiting. It’s a complex, very successful portrayal of an addictive, selfish, volatile soul who knows she might be running out of chances at a decent life. The supporting cast as well is just excellent. Nolte is even better than excellent. It’s in limited release, this movie is and it will be on DVD, right around the corner in July. Thumbs up for me.

ROGER: Thumbs up for me too. And you know, I didn’t dislike Maggie Cheung’s character as much as you did because, sure she gets into drug addiction that causes her a lot of bad problems. And she pretty slowly gets the message that she has to clean up. But she loves her son. And she doesn’t just go around acting out and screaming and throwing tantrums all of the time%u2026

RICHARD: No, no, no. no…

ROGER: She’s very inward. I mean, the quiet little voice in which she answers the interrogation of the policemen, or when she talks for the first time to Nick Nolte, after all of her trouble, shows a wounded private place, and it’s such a good performance and she does it in both English and she has some scenes where she speaks French, and in both of those languages, which are not her native languages, she is completely, emotionally right exactly on the right note.

RICHARD: Yeah, you’re absolutely right.

THE CRITICS’ JOINT COMMENT FROM THE PROGRAM SUMMARY

ROGER: Okay, recapping the movies on this week’s show: We split on “A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION” Shame on you, Richard. Shame. Shame. Shame.

RICHARD: Well, enjoy your cuddle with that movie.

ROGER: Okay. Two thumbs up for “CARS.” Two thumbs up for “THE LAKE HOUSE.” It opens next week.

Two thumbs up for “CLEAN.”

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