Adrien Brody has a great hangdog expression and it seen throughout "Clean," an intense revenge drama that he cowrote. The Oscar-winning actor stars as the title character in this flinty character study about a garbage man who is seeking redemption and salvation. Clean is "working on" being good; his past — which he "can't wash away" — is revealed over the course of this story. The film takes an interesting turn as Clean's efforts to protect his teenage neighbor, Diandra (Chandler DuPont), lead him down a violent path. Clean also crosses paths with Michael (Glenn Fleshler), a drug kingpin, whose troubled son Mikey (Richie Merritt) knows Diandra.
The gritty film is a passion project for the actor, who also produced and even composed the music and score. It is a change of pace from his recent deadpan work as an art dealer in "The French Dispatch," or as Josh Aaronson, a potential investor in the hit HBO series "Succession." "Clean" allows Brody to go deep and burrow into a character who can fix an Electrolux vacuum, with the same dexterity he employs to build a powerful shotgun. Brody's appearance looks as haunted as Clean is, and yet he is extremely protective of Diandra who gets in a series of dangerous situations.
