Clean

But this film was just insufferably boring crap. From the gritty aesthetic, the terrible music, the boring protagonist, and so many pretentious moments it elicits constant cringes and eye rolls, it fails on multiple levels to provide time worthy entertainment. I tire of formulaic action movies where everything is predictable, but it is mind numbing when movies seem self important yet still follow numerous tropes in a failed effort to be edgey. Awful.

The storyline is not new, but tried and true. It could've been a good movie, maybe even a great one. The actors do their jobs, and the cinematography is sufficiently bleak. The ingredients for a good redemption story are all there, so what happened? It's the small things that add up. The viewer is pulled out of the story with WFT moments. It's the number of these moments that spoil the film. Style over substance is never going to work, it's distracting. The constant exposition of why Clean feels dirty is excessive, we understand his motivation. You don't need to hit us over the head with a monkey wrench, we get it. It's a misfire, style over substance.

On every level, this is a dismal failure. Adam Brody is really a supporting actor but he insists on taking films where he's the star and a bunch of unknowns are in it with him. Bad move because the films all suck and they only serve to show he can't carry the show. Additionally, the movie is unbelieveably slow. With a soundtrack that is just dismal. Don't bother. You will be bored out of your mind.

NOT FOR EVERYONE. I LOVED IT BUT FOR YOU ITS YOUR CALL "Clean" doesn't aim high, it aims low, but it hits its target square-on, and its murky depictions of gut-churning violence don't wash away easily. Hard-edged, old-fashioned, and anchored by a sturdy movie star performance from Adrien Brody, Clean plays well as a socially-tinged vigilante thriller.