Cleaner, 2007: Rated R
The blood may be wiped away, but the truth still remains.
Who to look for:
Samuel L. Jackson – Tom Cutler, ex-LAPD, current cleaner of crime scenes and congealed blood. Eewww!
(There’s a job you don’t see much in Glass Door.)
Ed Harris – solid. Tom’s former partner.
Eva Mendes – the love interest. If your idea of love is no chemistry across the room, that is. Not a noteworthy performance.
Keke Palmer – Tom’s daughter, Rose. Never heard of her. So cute – I don’t think she’s as striking, now that she’s all grown up. That happens sometimes with kid actors.
Main Plot
Tom Cutler was a cop, but we don’t know why he quit. Now he cleans up other people’s blood, “and other fluids”, as he says. His wife is dead, and he lives with his teenage daughter. An early scene was funny: he goes to his high school reunion, and tells a bunch of slightly horrified, but rapt fellow former schoolmates what he does for a living — literally cleans up messy deaths. One guy mentions his aging parents…and suddenly everyone want’s Tom’s business cards!
One of the deaths he cleans up turns out to be a possible murder, so his old police instincts fire up, and he starts to investigate. He also hooks up with his old cop buddies. I like buddy pictures, but this wasn’t that. More of a man on a mission.
Lots of blood, and the camera loved it. In fact, I wanted to see more of his actual cleaning. How the heck do you clean blood? From anything??? And body parts!?
Father and teenage daughter had the best scenes! The arguments were almost too real. But good.
Good Hollywood production features. The movie music matched the somber scenes.
Unanswered questions and Ending:
Why did Tom ignore his ex-partner for years? Not really explained. They had a shared secret of some past misdoing, but I think it was about accounting, and I got bored.
And I didn’t like the ending. First of all, I didn’t understand who or why. Plus, his ex-partner killed the husband why? And Tom’s daughter – uncalled for! He is her godfather!
It didn’t ruin the movie, but it was an anti-climax and kind of dragged.
Other Audience Cleaner Reviews
Google: 78% Liked it. It’s hard to get past a weak ending.
IMDB describes: A middle-aged house cleaner gets caught up in a violent crime after being hired. Hm. What baby wrote this blurb?
From Amazon:
(Amazon ignores the R rating, and says it’s unrated. Well, it’s bloody.)
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2021
NO SPOILERS. LET US BEGIN WITH THE CAST, SAMUEL L. JACKSON AND EVA MENDES, AND ED HARRIES, INCLUDING LUIS GUZMAN. ALTHOUGH THIS IS NOT A 2021 MOVIE, AND IS A BIT OLDER, IT IS NOT ONE PERCENT DATED.
Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2021
Per Rotten Tomatoes, this film was a flop with audiences and critics. I can’t figure out why. The acting was superb, the writing and directing good, the ending unexpected but completely believable.
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2021
Good acting but predictable film from the PC police
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2021
Worked great for soldering
That’s a Wrap
I rated it C+. Better than your average Netflix show!
What did you think?
I’m very fortunate this year, because Amazon just gave me my own page, to make lists! I love to make lists. And here are movies I liked better than this one.
Set painter in studio Art Depts. Member Scriptwriters Network, script analyst.
Author, 2 hardcopy books, Barnes & Noble Calendar.
- The Other Emily ~ Dean Koontz ~ Serial Killer - June 23, 2025
- Emma in the Night ~ Wendy Walker ~ Abduction Thriller - May 11, 2023
- Still Alice (2014) ~ Psychology Movie Review ~ Julianne Moore - January 25, 2023
