Emily's life hangs in the balance, she's a junkie living with a failing rock-star, who's about to od on heroin, she has dreams of her own of rock success and she's a mother trying to raise a young boy. Sentenced to 6 months in prison she emerges to a world of limited options, her son has been taken into the care of her parents-in-law, she has to stay clean and she needs to find a way of making a living. She moves restlessly from Canada to London to Paris, can't hack a dead-end job as a waitress in a Cantonese restaurant, and hawks her demo tape to those willing to listen. Can she make the break from her past that she needs to, can she regain custody of her son and should she be allowed to? A quality film made even better by stand-out performances from Cheung and Nolte, the latter as her not unsympathetic father-in-law whom, though he recognises her role in his son's death and understands her weaknesses, also sees the need for 7-year-old Jay to have a real parent.