Again, that seems distantly like the point (or at least one point) of “Clean Hands.” But Allyn is entirely too interested in Simmers’ police work, meaning high-pitched chases and strong-arm interrogations, to strike the right balance between his day job and his earnest efforts to help his daughter. As a viewer, it’s possible to forgive a character who’s so determined to protect his daughter that he takes overbearing or inappropriate measures, but when the film wants the crime stuff to be tense and exciting — amplified with music by instrumental rock act Those Who Ride With Giants — it undercuts the humanity of what that character is facing.
McGregor offers a welcome counterbalance as Brooke, whose general disposition emanates from her relationship with her father, even as it’s hobbled by troubles the script pinpoints with delicacy. Though the film doesn’t quite know what to do with Dana as Simmers bulldozes his way to a cure for Brooke, Spencer similarly offers grace — or at least a less rigid form of support — that hints at how his initial way of helping may not be the most effective one.
