Ponderous wisecracks and cloak-and-dagger high jinks pass for comic intrigue in this hapless mix of yuks and kicks.
Code Name: The Cleaner (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:78
Fresh:3
Rotten:75
Average Rating:2.9/10
Consensus: Code Name: The Cleaner is a limp action/comedy flick that alternates between lame, worn-out jokes and cheesy martial arts.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for sexual content, crude humor and some violence
Runtime: 84 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:07-12-2007
Synopsis: Cedric the Entertainer (JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION, BARBERSHOP) stars as Jake, a bumbling amnesiac, in the spy-parody caper CODE NAME: THE CLEANER. Waking up next to a dead FBI agent and a briefcase... Cedric the Entertainer (JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION, BARBERSHOP) stars as Jake, a bumbling amnesiac, in the spy-parody caper CODE NAME: THE CLEANER. Waking up next to a dead FBI agent and a briefcase full of money, and with flashbacks to his combat training, Jake suspects he's actually an undercover operative. He comes into contact with numerous characters who add to his confusion: Diane (Nicollette Sheridan), a blond bombshell claiming to be his wife; Gina (Lucy Liu), a feisty waitress who insists she's his girlfriend; and employees of a computer technology company who are adamant that he's a janitor. The film escalates into a race against the clock--while piecing his past together Jake realizes he holds a valuable secret and must thwart a group of dangerous agents who are after him. Fun for the whole family, CODE NAME: THE CLEANER includes some hilarious moments and showcases Cedric's endearing comic appeal as the anti-James Bond. Liu (KILL BILL, CHARLIE'S ANGELS) gets to show off her well-known fighting moves and DeRay Davis (SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS) is a scene stealer as a fast-talking janitor/wannabe-rapper. Although the plot drags a bit, there is plenty of fast-paced action and steamy content thanks to Sheridan and Liu, whose provocative scenes add heavy doses of sex appeal to the film. [More]
Starring: Cedric the Entertainer, Lucy Liu, Nicollette Sheridan, Elizabeth Hurley
Starring: Cedric the Entertainer, Lucy Liu, Nicollette Sheridan, Elizabeth Hurley, Callum Keith Rennie, Mark Dacascos, De Ray Davis, Will Patton
Director: Les Mayfield
Director: Les Mayfield
Producer: Brett Ratner, Jay Stern, Eric C. Rhone, John Cheng
Composer: George S. Clinton
Studio: New Line Cinema
Reviews for Code Name: The Cleaner
The memory of this movie will have left your brain before you walk out of the theater. If you're lucky.
The outtakes in the closing credits were the funniest parts of the movie.
This is the kind of movie where everyone looks like they are having a lot more fun than the audience.
Cedric and Lucy Liu...may want to give their agents a good talking-to.
...it's not merely that the script is a sloppy, by-the-numbers action farce; it's more the leaden hand of director Les Mayfield...
Hollywood certainly didn't waste anytime in turning out its first insulting blaxploitation flick of 2007.
Because of its clever story, funny leading man and two gorgeous supporting actresses, 'Code Name: The Cleaner' is a welcome January surprise.
...I humbly submit that Cedric the Entertainer be required to give up the "Entertainer" portion of his nom de plume until he actually starts entertaining us.
Cedric's style of humor seems to be stating the obvious, but doing it really fast. He mumbles out loud and makes lame observations.
Not the kind of movie you need to rush out and see, but if you're sitting at home trying to decide between doing your own cleaning and watching The Cleaner, I'd pick the movie.
[A] cheerfully dumb spy comedy filled with ridiculous stereotypes and plot holes as big as cartoon anvils.
...the comedy half doesn't work without the intrigue half, and director Mayfield doesn't look like he would know intrigue if Martin Scorsese brought it to him wrapped in butcher paper with a bow on top.
How do films this stale and generic continue to get made, let alone with topflight talent? Cedric has been stealing scenes from bigger names for nearly a decade; he deserves better than a few amusingly-improvised minutes at the end of his own movie.
It's a bad sign for a comedy when viewers are left pining for more ineptly staged shoot-'em-up sequences.
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