I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this movie. I'll confess one this right away: I am not particularly a fan of art-house type films. They often don't have much of a point to them and you're left trying to figure out pretty much everything that's going on and what it all means. In a way it's liberating because it allows you to draw your own conclusions and not be bound by a cut and dry story. In another way it's somewhat annoying because it lacks almost anything resembling structure.The film itself sort of slogs along at it's own steady pace full of jarring moments and a soundtrack designed to put you that much more into the mind of a schizophrenic. That effect works very well...I imagine the mind of a schizophrenic is equally disjointed and maddening. If you can picture a film full of what sounds like a radio stuck between stations and random voices and you'll start to get the idea. I will say that I'm not entirely sure why everyone thinks Peter Greene's performance is so ground breaking. Sure, he was good in the film, but what does it really take to play a schizophrenic? Act twitchy and look confused a lot. I'm sure it's not quite THAT simple but Greene's performance, though good, wasn't anything that blew me away. To be honest nobody in the film absolutely floored me, but it is a very interesting glimpse into the life of a very troubled and disturbed man.I consider myself a fairly average movie fan. I like movies that allow you to turn your brain off as much as I like movies that have a subtext to them and make you think. But I'll be the first to admit that if there is a real point to this film, I'm the wrong guy to ask as to what it is. It's almost like a real life case study of one man who has serious problems. In a weird way it's nice to see such a realistic portrayal of such a mental illness instead of seeing it dressed up and romanticized like in...say...A Beautiful Mind. All in all I'd recommend it but you have to be in the right mood (or at least I do). I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it, but it's nothing if not interesting, especially as a debut film.

Astonishing movie! Every sound, repeating quite unconsciously through the film; every strong image; names, words said... everything makes sense in the very end of this incredibly high strung display of human sensitiveness. It starts willfully confusing, just to perfectly end up shattering every apparently right impression, the main characters might have made!Some of the atmospheres reminded me of Henry: portrait of a killer. Something else, may slightly anticipate the feel of Cronenberg's Spider.I'd suggest this film to artists, or simply sensitive people, who don't fear heavy grey skies; blood; true feelings that aren't just right or wrong; to scan a tormented soul. Enjoy.

Forget "A Beautiful Mind". This film has a true and simple soul. "Clean, Shaven" is a powerful and insightful look into the world of the paranoid. That it is a low budget "indie" only adds to it's effect. Hollyweird has lost it's ability to produce quality films like this one. It is an "Ox Bow Incident" for the schizophrenics of the world. From the sound effects to Peter Greene's seamless performance, this film never ceases to amaze me. That people stop watching after the first five minutes only proves the point the film is trying to make. He acts "weird" so he must be a deranged killer or a predatory pedophile. It's an indictment of the ever present "Burn them at the stake" mentality. Two thumbs up ...

Allright, it's not in the same category as Preminger, Lang, Ford or Reed, but still, this is an incredible use of sound, music, actors and minimalist camera action... If Bresson was American, he would maybe not even top that! The only movie that stands comparison to this one would in my opinion be Philip Ridley's The Mirror. Try to see it in a movie- theatre, then buy the tape or the DVD... Just watch the scene when the cop realizes he had it all wrong, the final ghostly scene with the daughter and the radio, the scene between Peter Greene (could it get better? maybe not even William Fichtner!) and his mother at the table. So much, so much... Clare Dolan (Kerrigan's second film) was great (opening credit sequence!), but maybe less scary.