A former cop turned crime-scene cleaner (Samuel L. Jackson) realizes that he has been tricked into cleaning a murder scene that the police didn’t know about.  He tries to determine who was behind it, before he becomes the next victim.

CRITIQUE

Cleaner is interesting in that the main character, Samuel L. Jackson’s Tom Carver, is a former cop who now cleans crime scenes, a job that is indirectly (if somewhat messily) presented here, and which makes for a solid, important backdrop for the plot of the movie, in which Carver realizes he has been manipulated into cleaning a crime scene by a killer before the police get there.  But the resulting film works better in its character drama aspects than in its mystery and thriller ones, and though there are things to like here, one wishes that it worked a little bit better.

The set-up here is good, as we get to see Carver go through his paces, and get a sense of his life; he’s a widower who is raising a teenage daughter (Akeelah and the Bee’s Keke Palmer), and who has his share of secrets that are haunting him, which nicely complicate things along the way.  The problem is that this just never quite turns into the mystery it seems like it is going to be, with Carver never really taking an active role in trying to unravel things; instead, it seems like the characters spend too much time here just waiting for the big showdown ending.

The director here is Renny Harlin, whose career has been spotty at best; though he helmed such okay action films as Cliffhanger and Die Hard 2, he was also responsible for a long string of flops, including Ford Fairlane, Cutthroat Island, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Exorcist: The Beginning, and Driven.  Here his scope is smaller, which is a mixed bag; though Harlin handles the dramatic scenes well enough, there just isn’t quite enough real narrative movement here to center the script on, even though there are a few solid twists that pop up along the way.

This is almost redeemed by the cast, which does strong work here.  Jackson is (as usual) always-watchable as Carver, and is in almost every scene, while Eva Mendes, Ed Harris, Luis Guzman and Robert Forster also do good work.  Unfortunately, the casting is also a giveaway in the movie; as the plot progresses, and one of these actors has a fairly-minor role, it is clear that they are going to be the killer, because there’d be no other reason for them to take the part.

Ultimately, this has wound up going straight to DVD, and it’s clear why; it just isn’t as solid as a theatrical movie of this type needs to be.  Still, as a rental on a rainy Friday night, there are things here to like.

THE VIDEO

Cleaner is presented in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen.  Most of it looks crisp, though there are a couple of scenes that are a bit dark, to no real purpose.

THE AUDIO

Cleaner is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Digital, as well as Thai and French 5.1 Dolby Digital.  Dialogue, music and sound effects come through clear.  There are English, Chinese, Thai and French subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

There is a Commentary by director Renny Harlin, who talks knowledgeably about the things he was trying to do during the film.

There are 15 minutes of Deleted Scenes, which aren’t bad, though they were obviously cut because they would have slowed down the movie even more.

FINAL THOUGHT