Code Name: The Cleaner poster & wallpaper

Callum Keith Rennie, Cedric the Entertainer, Lucy Liu

Jake, a janitor and seemingly regular guy, has no idea who he is after being hit over the head by mysterious assailants. When he finds himself unexpectedly entangled in a high-level government conspir...( read more  read more... )acy, Jake and his pursuers begin to believe that he is an undercover agent who subconsciously holds a key piece of information that could expose an arms deal involving the CIA and FBI.

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47% liked it

34,953 ratings

Critics

4% liked it

78 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 24 min.

Directed by: Les Mayfield

Release Date: January 5, 2007

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DVD Release Date: April 24, 2007

Stats: 1,373 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,373)

  • franktowers
    January 29, 2009
    franktowers
    not that great of a movie
  • StaisilD
    July 20, 2008
    StaisilD
    Cedric the Entertainer stars as Jake, who has amnesia and is either a janitor who thinks he's a secret agent or a secret agent who thinks he's a janitor. Or maybe a monk who dreams he's a butterfly. Lucy Liu is Gina, who may just be the hash-hauling waitress she seems to be, or s...( read more)he could be an FBI agent. Nicollette Sheridan (Desperate Housewives) is Diane, who may be Jake's wife if he turns out to be a rich software guru instead of a spy or a janitor. Cedric the Entertainer (The Honeymooners) needs a new agent, or he's seriously in danger of losing that last part of his name. Code Name: The Cleaner is an unforgivably bland comedy crafted out of elements from The Bourne Identity and a 1990 movie where Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez are garbage men called Men at Work. It's hardly entertaining, and far too concerned with being likable to ever do anything inventive. Director Les Mayfield (Flubber) fails with both the thriller and comedy bits that provide wooden and predictable moments that are telegraphed miles away. There's not enough humor, and the serious moments are contrived. Lucy Liu (Charlie's Angels) and Nicolette Sheridan (Desperate Housewives) in underwear. Both ladies look incredible, and they get a climactic martial arts cat fight inter cut with a bubble bath fantasy where they get dangerously close to making out. Makes no sense to me either, but at least it was eye candy and nowhere near as boring as the rest of the flick.
  • PvtCaboose91
    June 9, 2008
    PvtCaboose91
    Jake Rodgers: "I'm the Black Rambo!"
    Gina: "...Blambo?"


    Ever seen a film entitled The Bourne Identity? If you have, then you'd be futilely massacring your precious time with Code Name: The Cleaner as it is essentially the same movie. If

    ...( read more)you haven't seen The Bourne Identity, watch it immediately so you won't ever feel the need to expose yourself to this rubbish!

    2007 has been forced to bear a number of dreadful film releases with an inadequate number of masterpieces thus far. Code Name: The Cleaner is yet another unspeakably appalling comedy released at some stage during 2007. The film is primarily The Bourne Identity with a different cast. The plot is horrible, characters are all weak not to mention stereotypical, and performances are simply abysmal. Sure, casting Cedric the Entertainer as the lead in a movie may appear like a good idea...but they missed the mark unreservedly. In my opinion Cedric is no longer an entertainer, as I was not in the slightest bit entertained while watching this conventional baloney.

    A guy named Jake (Cedric the Entertainer) wakes up in a hotel room next to a corpse with no clue about his identity. As flashbacks of his past come flooding back, he has a memory of being a special ops secret agent. But his allies around him claim he is merely a janitor. The convoluted, non-existent plot then turns into some story about a microchip and the FBI who are trying to track down Jake. Inadvertently, Jake is then entangled in some government conspiracy.

    As I previously stated, Code Name: The Cleaner appears to be a pointless rehash of The Bourne Identity with the standard sexual gags and an attempt to include witty dialogue. These films are released far too frequently in this contemporary age of cinema. The filmmakers aim to gain a PG-13 rating from the MPAA to soak up every last dollar they can upon release. They realise it won't win any Oscars so their objective is to supply a bit of fun. This film is not fun at all! It's devoid of any laughs as there is nothing clever or remotely funny included in the film! The only parts I laughed at were merely out of pity because of how dreadful all the gags are. It's obvious there was room for Cedric to do some improvisation while on set, but he adds absolutely nothing to the film. Perhaps it's not my type of humour, or perhaps it was just woefully screen-written. Judging by the other reviews I've seen, I'm guessing it's the latter.

    There are a few big names thrown into the cast...unfortunately none of the actors could redeem the embarrassing screenplay! Cedric the Entertainer is an African-American in PG-13 humour territory. The filmmakers seem to be under the impression that people find it funny when someone like Cedric makes cracks about sex or the attractiveness of a woman. This may be a controversial statement, but the only time I've seen this done right is in the Rush Hour movies. Cedric walks through the movie looking lost and confused. Lucy Liu does not even slightly possess any talent or acting skills evident here. Her aim is to utilise agility and acrobatic skills in an attempt to look impressive on screen. Every line she delivered that was meant to be funny...backfires completely. However I can't imagine any actor - no matter how talented - could have possibly redeemed the script. Not even the best screenwriter in the world could have redeemed the awful concept. What does that tell us? The film was doomed from the moment it was conceived and every second of this movie proves it.

    The only reason I decided to watch this movie was because one of the featured actors shares the same first name as me (Callum), but watching this brings shame to my name and others who share the same title. To put it bluntly and simply; Code Name: The Cleaner is flat and witless, and among the worst films to transpire during 2007. It's tragic that comedies have sunk this low. Every predictable cliché in the book is shamelessly trotted out.
  • DeppLover
    May 1, 2008
    DeppLover
    Ahem. Unfortunately... I've seen this. I think they tried to make it so stupid, it would be funny. But this was just so stupid.. it was almost unwatchable. So they threw in a few big names like Cedric the Entertainer and Lucy Liu, hoping to be a bit of a success. That's the way I...( read more) see it anyway, for me this was a disaster from the minute it started. The jokes were lame, and so NOT funny at all, not even ones I'd smile at. Some people could say that this is entertaining and fun to watch, but I'm over the idea of comedy movies with a few Hollywood stars that end up being uninteresting and dull.

    They captured the right idea of having Cedric the Entertainer as the brainless person in this, he's have to be clueless to think this would be a success. And that's exactly what his character, Jake, is. Were they trying to do a take off of the 'Bourne' movies and make it funny? Because really, it's the same storyline of him waking up and not knowing anything, and thinking he's part of some top secret agent stuff. Obviously they add in heaps of goof's to take up the time, but maybe that's where they were coming from. It's not obvious or anything, but I guess these days you can make comedy movies about anything or everything you want these days. The cover looks stupid, but I told myself not to judge a movie by it's cover.. sometimes I end up really liking flicks that have the worst covers, so that's why I saw it. Hopefully most people would avoid something like this, but if you're thinking about it, I'm warning you.. the cover is better than the actual film!

    So Cedric the Entertainer had a few funny *cough cough* lines in this. Well, lines the screenwriter/s wanted to be funny, but I didn't even smile. Lucy Liu has no acting skills at all, all she does is try and make herself look good on the screen and seem cool that she's in a movie like this. The lines that were supposed to be funny from her, every time she said they you could tell she just wasn't supposed to be in this movie. Nicollette Sheridan was absolutely disgusting in the worst way you could imagine. I felt sick in the stomach whenever she was on the screen. How on earth did she become an actress? DeRay Davis was the only funny actor/character in this flick. Not laugh out loud stuff, but he's the only one that made me smile.

    Avoid this for as long as you can, definitely not worth seeing.
  • powerofmylove
    December 23, 2007
    powerofmylove
    OK well this was a somewhat odd movie but to be honest most times the odd ones do not turn out too bad to watch. A lot of funny moments in this one. Worth renting.
  • Liloh
    October 25, 2009
    Liloh
    Oh the Cleaner, come clean my House dude.
  • sparkym1972
    September 18, 2009
    sparkym1972
    very classic cedric, a good laugh.
  • btfink
    September 16, 2009
    btfink
    actually not that bad
  • perspolisgirl
    July 20, 2009
    perspolisgirl
    This movie was really funny.
  • wooshang
    July 13, 2009
    wooshang
    Cedric is a natural-born fool. One of the funniest I've seen that year.

View All Code Name: The Cleaner Reviews

Critic Reviews

January 19, 2007
Pete Hammond, Maxim

This is the kind of movie where everyone looks like they are having a lot more fun than the audience. full review

January 5, 2007
Kyle Smith, New York Post

The story keeps stopping dead to deliver product placement for Jake's favorite brands of junk food. There must be a better way to work Skittles into the script than to have Jake keep saying things lik... full review

January 4, 2007
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

Cedric the Entertainer gets hit on the head and loses his memory in Code Name: The Cleaner, a condition likely to be desired by anyone foolish enough to sit through Les Mayfield's comedy. full review

January 4, 2007
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

Cedric the Entertainer, whose standup comedy act is utterly endearing, is hung out to dry in this feeble spy comedy. It is not only pitched at 12-year-olds, it was apparently made by them. full review

View more Code Name: The Cleaner reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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  • What movie did D-Ray say "If you shoot me i'm TuPac But if i live I'm 50 Cent?  Answer »
  • In Which movie did Cedric the entertainer the one who knew about the chip?  Answer »
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