James Johnston Movies

A woman throws herself into a last-ditch struggle to conquer her demons in this gritty drama from director Olivier Assayas. Lee Hauser (James Johnston) is a faded rock star who lives with his wife, Emily Wang (Maggie Cheung), the former host of a European music video show, in a small town in Western Canada. Both Lee and Emily have been battling drug addiction for years, and when Lee finally dies of an OD, Emily finds herself charged with possession of heroin and ends up spending six months in jail. Lee and Emily's son, Jay (James Dennis), has been living with his paternal grandparents, Albrecht (Nick Nolte) and Rosemary (Martha Henry), and while Emily is eager to see her son after getting out of jail, Albrecht persuades her that she needs to get herself clean before she can reconnect with Jay. Determined to get off methadone, Emily relocates to France, where she scares up a job as a waitress and moves in with her old friend Elena (Béatrice Dalle). Emily's attempts to start a new career and stay off drugs prove to be an uphill battle, and she doesn't appear to be winning her fight when she learns that Albrecht and Jay will be accompanying Rosemary to London for medical treatment when Rosemary contracts a serious illness -- and that Albrecht is considering making a side trip to Paris. Clean was screened in competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

No, Oliver Stone did not invent the Cinema of Paranoia. In 1975, for example, long before Stone first yelled "Cue the conspirators!", we were offered No Place to Hide. A group of idealistic, pure-hearted hippie activists are targeted by the evil, demonic FBI. The insidious law-enforcement minions plant a spy in the midst of the angelic flower children; this dirty rat fink goads Our Heroes (and Heroines) into committing a murderous act of radicalism that will result in life sentences for all the beautiful people. No Place to Hide is as bad as it sounds, but you'll watch anyway just to see a pre-Rocky Sylvester Stallone in the role of "Jerry." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide