Cleaner (2007)

A former cop who now earns a wage as a crime scene cleaner unknowingly participates in a cover-up at his latest job.

Director:

Renny Harlin

Writer:

Matthew Aldrich

Stars:

Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris, Eva Mendes

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Tom Cutler
Ed Harris	...	Eddie Lorenzo
Eva Mendes	...	Ann Norcut
Luis Guzmán	...	Det. Jim Vargas
Keke Palmer	...	Rose Cutler
Maggie Lawson	...	Cherie
Jose Pablo Cantillo	...	Miguel
Robert Forster	...	Arlo Grange
Edrick Browne	...	Det. Darrin Harris
Marc Macaulay	...	Vic
Rosalind Rubin	...	Crying Woman
Mike Guy	...	Priest #1
Richard Folmer	...	Priest #2
James Barnes	...	Lawyer
Linda Leonard	...	Francine Mason

Storyline

Tom Cutler, a retired police officer now runs a company which specialises in crime scene clean up. He is assigned a clean up job post a homicide. After doing the job he discovers that he has been conned into cleaning up a crime scene and must try to unravel the mystery behind what happened in that house.

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Plot Keywords:

scene of the crime | blood splatter | washing hands | pool of blood | police corruption | 

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Taglines:

With some crimes nobody gets out clean.

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for bloody images, some violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 January 2008 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Čistač

Filming Locations:

Bossier City, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Millennium Films, Anonymous Content, Hygenic Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min 93 min

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

DIRECTOR TRADEMARK (Renny Harlin): (Finland): In the scene when Tom (Samuel L. Jackson) tells Eddie (Ed Harris) about the book of bribed officers, "Helsinki" (capital of Finland) is spray painted on a concrete pillar.

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Goofs

As Detective Eddie Lorenzo stands waving his gun, a short while after he discovered that he had a piece of glass in his left arm, the blood disappears as the camera changes angle and although the audience doesn't see his entire arm at that particular angle, at the volume he was bleeding, his entire shirt would have been dripping with blood.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Eddie Lorenzo: Who's gonna clean you up Tom?

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Connections

References Columbo (1971)

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Soundtracks

Beseme
Written by Ed McCoyd (Spanish translation by Edwin Perez)
Performed by Mistico
Published by Ed McCoyd Music (SESAC)
Courtesy of BLAST! Music Management

User Reviews

Good production spoiled by a weak plot

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.