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:

Solving a crime can be dirty work.

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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

The movie playing, when Tom comes home late is The Philadelphia Story (1940) starring Carey Grant and Katherine Hepburn.

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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

Features The Philadelphia Story (1940)

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Soundtracks

Sin Miedo por la Calle
Written by Jose Antonio Marine Cabrera, Antar Gerardo Jimenez Gomez, Eduardo Rene Salazar Mata,
Juan Miguel Jimenez Guilamo
Performed by Millenio Flow
Published by Astonishing Music (BMI), Murder Riddims Publishing (BMI)
Courtesy of Crucial Music

User Reviews

Strong Cast, Unsurprising Plot

A few years ago there was an incredible segment on NPR's "This American Life" about a cleaner of crime scenes. Shortly thereafter, Pruitt Taylor Vince played a character that felt indebted to this NPR piece on "C.S.I." ("Swap Meet"). The bringing together of science and death was perfect for the CBS show. I wasn't so sure if such a character could survive a Renny Harlin film.

Pity poor Renny Harlin. It still feels that he's trying to recover from CUTTHROAT ISLAND (1995). His last few films have been lucky to even snag a U.S. theatrical release (MINDHUNTERS wasn't one of these), much less a festival screening. So, that must mean that Harlin is back on top, right? Yes and no.

That CLEANER is playing a film festival is a vote of confidence in the Finnish filmmaker. Yet, CLEANER is a strange choice for a festival program. It's very much a straight-forward thriller along the lines of KISS THE GIRLS or U.S. MARSHALLS. The presence of Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris, and Luis Guzman certainly does well to give the film some credibility and solid performances (though Eva Mendes feels completely out of her league). The script by Matthew Aldrich is a solid, albeit fairly predictable, effort and Harlin does a capable workman's job bringing it to life. I won't object to seeing this one again on cable.