Description

There is nothing quite like seeing certain actors on-screen together. Samuel L. Jackson and Ed Harris are definitely two of them, usually seen in supporting roles in other movies, but here given screen time together for the first time. Their chemistry and fine performances give "Cleaner" a deeper dimension than it probably deserved. Jackson reminding us why we used to say "that dude is a brilliant actor" and Harris reminding us that he is actually still alive. It's a shame their chosen project's plot is as weak as watered down whisky. Why do you think this baby came straight to DVD?

Directormore… Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger, Deep Blue Sea) takes helming duties, which straight away alerts you to the fact that this film could be complete rubbish. Witness Harlin's last foray into the cop thriller with the god awful "Mindhunters." Unexpectedly however, Harlin's direction is as fine and controlled as it ever has been, getting back to basics with crisp imagery and some glossy visuals. The film actually looks very nice. It's the twisting, treacherous plot that sorely disappoints. It begins as a character study of Jackson's pristine, obsessive compulsive ex-cop turned crime scene cleaner. And it works. The first hour is utterly gripping. The intrigue is sparked to life film noir style the moment Eva Mendes denies ever having employed Jackson and his firm for cleaning a homicide scene in her house, giving you the impression that the answers to the slow burn questions are going to be 'BIG'. But alas, after some more drip feed intrigue involving a ledger and the badge numbers of corrupt cops, "Cleaner" nosedives into seriously overcooked melodrama, with a painfully emphatic score to boot. The script promises so much and delivers so little. The fine character details employed in the story add a nice dimension to the plot, but the explanation come the end for the mystery at hand is so half-baked and lazy that you actually guessed it in the first ten minutes but refused to believe it would be that simple or obvious.

Asides from an incredibly lacklustre third act and a small handful of badly written scenes, it is safe to say the actors on board saw something in it all, and give some great turns. Jackson and Harris play-off one another well, the former showing us a character he has not shown us before, while the latter adds another hard-boiled performance to his resume. Eva Mendes surprises as the femme fatale even though her part is vastly underwritten, while the wonderful Luis Guzman adds a bit of sleaze to the mix. There's a pointless cameo from Robert Forser, although he's good all the same, and everyone else is just background support but they all coax nicely.

"Cleaner" had potential to be a great conspiracy thriller, or even a fine character study but it ends up as a very short lived and unexplored melodrama with a lame twist that cops-out on the building plot rather than pays it off. The script was in bad need of a rewrite and ultimately ruins a film that could have been really good, providing contrived revelations and occasional chunks of lazy dialogue. And for once the weakness' in one of Renny Harlin's movies are not actually his fault. There can be miracles eh?

Cast list

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Info:

Category:

Movies > Films

Case Type:

DVD

Release Type:

Retail

Language:

English

Region:

R1

Format:

Widescreen

Comments:

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Cover Info:

Title:

Cleaner (2007) WS R1 Retail DVD

Part:

CD

Dimensions:

1896 x 1888 px

Size:

434 KB

Downloads:

186 (1 today)

Uploaded:

Report a Problem Wrong Cover Duplicate Image Bad Quality Wrong Info

31/08/08 by Sarge!

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