The Clean Up Crew

Greetings again from the darkness. Even before the opening credits roll, we get a scene with gunpoint humor, as Antonio Banderas skips right over 'chewing scenery' and dives into devouring the scene. Banderas takes his crime lord Gabriel over-the-top, quoting Machiavelli, so that we understand we are in for an action-crime-comedy. Directed by Jon Keeyes and written by Matthew Rogers, some of it works and some of it doesn't.

When the goal is strictly entertainment, a film should be judged accordingly, especially when it's made under a limited budget. Three years after that opening scene, Gabriel is late on his payoff to the corrupt cops who protect his illegal business ventures, and soon enough, he discovers that a couple of over-zealous thugs have stolen (or at least tried to steal) his money. The case filled with cash is stuffed in the chimney before our next shootout, which occurs in a dark room, creating pretty cool effects.

Siobhan (Oscar winner Melissa Leo, THE FIGHTER, 2010) owns Good Life Cleaners, a crime scene cleaning company. Her crew consists of Alex (Jonathan Rhys Meyers, MATCH POINT, 2005), his girlfriend Meagan (Ekaterina Baker, THE CARD COUNTER, 2021), and Chuck (Swen Temmel, AMERICAN TRAITOR: THE TRIAL OF AXIS SALLY, 2021). When they discover the money, skittish Alex wants to turn it in. Meagan wants to keep it for their future. Siobhan and Chuck have their own secrets as she tries to keep the drug-addicted former military man on the right path.

Things really spiral once this crew begins debating what to do with the money and realizing that The Commission (Gabriel's organization) is pursuing them. Meagan gets taken hostage, setting off a wild chain of events - most of which feature violent shootouts. In addition to Machiavelli quotes, Gabriel is also a fan of playing Russian roulette with his big, shiny pistol, and yelling at his crew to get his money back. It seems that Banderas and Meyers are the leads, but Temmel's Chuck, a one-man wrecking crew, is the more intriguing character, and it's a shame that Melissa Leo is mostly wasted, if not miscast here.

There is a sense that director Keeyes was going for a Guy Ritchie-type experience, however, the dialogue is never quite crackling enough for that level. The action has a bit of FREE FIRE (2016) feel to it, but again, not quite at that level. For one that's entertaining enough to sit through, but also allows time to scroll on your phone, this one delivers.

Available on Digital and On Demand beginning August 20, 2024.

Despite having a seemingly solid cast, the end result of this film isn't anything special as the finish product comes off as an over the top action comedy trying too hard to be style over substance and too hard on being witty or funny but it simply isn't interesting. This is apparently a British film and the humor here just isn't funny. The plot isn't exactly anything to fully invest in and at times was rather confusing. There was a few solid action shot gun sequences but overall things felt a little too cartoonish and unrealistic. In the end it's simply a run of the mill action comedy without much interest.

I did NOT expect this to be more than a 7/10 but the characters, the performance by the LEGENDARY Antonio Banderas made this movie so good.

The storyline is even good it's interesting not gonna lie and I like the story it's good.

The characters are good they have a good relationship with each other and they also have their problems with each other and overall try to solve the mystery of whose money are they holding.

The action is also good considering the low budget cost of the movie's production but it turned out to be good , better than I expected for sure

The BEST part about the movie and the main reason I am watching this is because of the LEGENDARY Antonio Banderas he carried the movie EASILY his performance is one of his best , his character is good and everything about him is so good , every scene with him is enjoyable and sometimes unpredictable considering his character's personality but overall I enjoyed his performance so much in here he is the greatest actor of all time.

Overall the movie is fun it exceeded my expectations and gave me this wonderful fun movie!

8/10.

The Clean is a badly made film with half hearted attempt. Though the length of the film is short, it becomes boring right from the start. There is no comedy, no thrills and hardly any action that seems impossible when one man with two pistols taking circles and kill ten at a time who fires with machine gums !!!! This is ridiculous. Performances are very bad except may Benderes who tried different approach to his acting. All the four cleaners are missing matched as there is no chemistry among them. A police is involved in the crimes of Benderes is killed. This only one police officer controlled the dark side of Benderes. Funny ! The film is below average.

Banderas plays a Spanish crime boss based in Ireland who is in cahoots with corrupt local police. This is established with some silly opening scenes, which at least tells us how to take this film - as a black comedy.

A few years ahead of the opening and things go awry as a shootout during a payoff leaves a case of money missing and the cops unpaid. Enter the four person clean-up crew, which includes Rhys Meyers, who find the case stashed up a chimney at the crime scene by the wounded sole survivor, whose return to the scene to recover it, is badly timed.

Mayhem ensues as Banderas sends another henchman to get the money back from the oddball foursome who are still deciding what to do with it. And no one really knows or accounts for the skills of the drugged-up, paranoid ex-military member of the quartet.

Banderas hams it up as the angry crime boss, who constantly quotes Machiavelli to almost everyone's annoyance, which would be amusing but for the fact that he stands out so much for doing so, when almost everyone else plays it straight and dry.

The rest of the cast, script and situations, tend to be, at most, mildly amusing rather than laugh-out loud funny. The humour does have a dry Irish quality to it, but it isn't very strong and doesn't come close to something like Derry Girls, nor is this movie a patch on the likes of an early Guy Ritchie move like Snatch or Lock Stock. Those were the places and heights that this movie seemed to hoping for, but misses by a considerable margin.

It's watchable, but only just. It could fill an hour and a half if you have nothing better to do or see.