Top 10 Direct-to-DVD Premieres: June 2008
By Robert Sims, Special to Hollywood.com
|
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
5. Cleaner (2 ½ stars)
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Eva Mendes, Ed Harris and Luis Guzman
The Verdict: How the mighty have fallen. In the 1990s Renny Harlin scored big with Cliffhanger and Die Hard 2. Now his Cleaner’s been swept under the carpet. Too bad, as the director’s right when he claims during his colorless commentary that this intimate and absorbing thriller’s “more grown-up” than his usual bombastic nonsense. OK, so it’s not hard to guess who’s hired Jackson’s crime-scene cleaner to destroy all evidence of a murder before it’s reported to the police. But it’s always a pleasure to watch Jackson—working with Harlin for the third time—when he loses himself in his character. He’s mesmerizing as a neat freak with a dirty past. Cleaner may be predictable, but it reveals Harlin is a better director when he goes against his bigger-is-better nature and exercises great restraint.
DVD Features: Digital copy of the film; deleted scenes; commentary by director Renny Harlin.