Cleaner

This is a fun, relatively forgettable little flick. I saw a documentary on real life cleaners of this sort, and that is a nasty business.

Samuel L Jackson does a good job, like he normally does. Cleaner is entertaining, and I think it does a pretty decent job sucking you into the story. Eva Mendes walks around looking like some computer animated hottie (that's just how she looks!) and also gets the job done.

OK, let me address the elephant in the living room, here.. How did Renny Harlin go from something easily watchable and entertaining like this, to The Legend of Hercules? I just don't get that. Moving on.

Cleaner won't keep you up at night, it probably won't be your all time favorite, but you are entertained while it lasts. Watching Jackson clean and talk about cleaning is pretty fun.

The premise of 'Cleaner' is quite clever; a professional cleaner cleans up a crime scene, only to discover that, in spite of original appearances, the police had not recorded the crime at all. Unfortunately, as he tries to find out who has put him up to this, the film descends into regulation cliché. It's not an awful film, but it is the sort of movie in which, shortly after each character appears, you can reliably predict what their ultimate role in the plot will be; and where none of the various twists comes as a real surprise. Everything is improbably connected; there's a beautiful woman (although surprisingly no sex); it all comes down to a personal showdown at the end. It's watchable; but scarcely interesting.

What ever happened to Hollywood creativity? There was an interesting idea , about the guy who cleans up the crime scenes and discovers the cover-up of some kind. So far so good, and then it all goes downhill It takes all of grand 5 minutes to completely figure out the whole plot. This movie is ridden with the tritest of clichés. Characters couldn't be more boring and predictable. And the tragic part is,in all of this you could see the potential for a great thriller. It looks like the talentless, behind the scenes moneymakers, once again asserted their rights and ruined yet another movie. Will someone finally get rid of this morons and let the filmmakers do their job as they seem fit.

As a finnish movie fan, it's always interesting to see a new film from Renny Harlin. Especially when Samuel L. Jackson, one of the most distinctive actors ever, is in it.

Jackson plays a crime scene cleaner, which you think would be what this movie is surrounded on. With all the C.S.I. stuff out there, it might interest some. But the scene where the story starts actually tastes like an idea where to start the story, not a theme for a movie where to excavate.

The plot is an uninspiring one, from the beginning to the end. There are some attempted details and twists to bring some life and excitement to this story. I'm sorry to say they really fail. There is no depth in this movie, and every attempt to create some is exactly that - an attempt.

This is bad cause the acting is pretty and the directing is nice. I can't really understand what the director saw in this script. Maybe the idea of creating something without special effects and exploiting the CSI-thing.

I give this one 6/10. All points going to actors and the director.

The movie is categorized as "Crime / Thriller". If you want anything good (and new) like that I suggest you see "Awake".

Actually for once I was disappointed after seeing a Renny Harlin movie because I had high hopes for this one. Usually I've known in advance his movies would be bad but "Cleaner" seemed that it might actually be really good for a change. It's not really bad, but it isn't anything great either.

Samuel L. Jackson and Ed Harris did their job very well in the leading roles and Harlin's direction was also good. Eva Mendes' performance wasn't anything to hooray for though. The movie started off well and I thought to myself: "This might be it. The movie that puts Renny back on the top.", but sadly no. The script is just too basic. You've seen different versions of this script on the screen many many times before. The characters and the world they live in might be totally different, but it's still the same generic plot. One thing that bugged me a bit was the musical score which didn't fit in some places at all.

But as far as Harlin's movies go this is one of his better ones. It just needed that original surprise twist in the end that never came. I can't really recommend you go see this in the cinema, but it's worth a rent.