Veteran Hawaii-born actor Mako is never less than brilliant in director Michael Toshiyuki Uno's The Wash. The film is a study of love lost and love renewed in California's Asian community. Since his retirement, a husband (Mako) becomes increasingly sullen and withdrawn. Only when his wife (Nobu McCarthy) announces that she wants a separation does the husband begin to reexamine his life. While the story in The Wash is a familiar one, its ethnic overtones set the film apart from others of its ilk.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide