Code Name: The Cleaner

Ever since Cedric the Entertainer burst onto the scene with his critically acclaimed, scene-stealing performance in the original "Barbershop," no filmmaker has quite figured out how best to harness the considerable talents of this longtime standup comic. In the years since that film was released, C the E has appeared in one monumental turkey after another, with his latest endeavor, "Code Name: The Cleaner," marking what we can only hope will be a professional low point before he begins his gradual ascent back towards some degree of cinematic respectability.

In what is clearly one of the lamest, dopiest and most ill-conceived spy comedies in movie history, Cedric plays an amnesia victim who wakes up in a hotel room next to a dead FBI agent and a suitcase stuffed with hundreds of thousands of dollars. Unsure of who he is - the possibilities range all the way from an undercover spy to a local janitor - or how he managed to get himself into such a predicament, the mystery man, Jake, is soon on the run from unknown forces out to nab him and the valuable computer chip it is believed he has in his possession.

This is such a perfectly ridiculous piece of celluloid-wasting cinema that it is scarcely worth the time it takes to watch, let alone comment on, the movie. Suffice it to say that Cedric needs to start looking into getting himself a better agent, while his co-stars - like Lucy Liu, whose career is clearly in as much trouble as Cedric's - should begin deleting this film from their professional resumes as quickly as is humanly possible.

This film begins with a man named "Jake Rogers" (Cedric Antonio Kyles) waking up in a bed at a hotel and finding a dead body right next to him. To make matters even worse, because of a recent head injury he not only doesn't remember how he got into this situation, but he also doesn't remember who he is. However, as luck would have it there is a small attache case with approximately $250,000 in it and an attractive blonde named "Diane" (Nicollette Sheridan) waiting for him in the hotel lobby who claims to be his wife. And to top it off he is apparently quite rich as well. However, that doesn't seem to matter as much as it should because he soon realizes that there are people out to kill him over a computer chip that he doesn't know anything about. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film definitely had some good humor here and there. Likewise, having two attractive actresses like Lucy Liu (as the waitress named "Gina") and the aforementioned Nicollette Sheridan certainly didn't hurt matters either. Having said that, however, I must admit that some of the comedy was rather low-brow and the film could have used a bit more suspense or drama as well. Even so, I thought that this was an okay film for the time spent and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Friday night my wife and I went to see Code Name: The Cleaner, staring Cedric Kyles (AKA Cedric the Entertainer) and Lucy Liu. It's about Jake, a man who wakes up in a hotel room, next to a dead body, with no memory of who he is or how he got there. As events unfold around him, he starts to recollect that he is a secret agent, and puts together that he was working undercover as a janitor on a deadly mission.

This was another fun movie. It had a PG-13 rating but I would say that it was a fairly mild PG-13 (a few shootouts and Nicollette Sheridan in her undies), so I wouldn't worry too much about taking a 13 year old to see it. It's the first movie I've seen with Cedric in the lead role and only the second with him in it at all (Serving Sara was the first). I really liked him. He was absolutely hilarious without going over the top. Of course Lucy Liu is always a sight to behold.

The rating it has received on IMDb was a dismal 3.0 but that was because a significant number (52%) of the votes were a 1. I suspect that the movie or one of it's actors really perturbed some group, so they retaliated with a vote drive. There is no way this movie rated a 1. I personally gave it a 7 and my wife tells me we will own this.

Incidentally, stick around for the first half of the credits. The show some very good outtakes.

I have no idea why I rented this film. It must have been the name Lucy Liu. This type of comedy is not something I like, though it probably will appeal to some.

The Cleaner from 2007 stars Cedric Kyles, Lucy Liu, and Nicolette Sheridan. Jake (Kyles) wakes up in a hotel with a dead body next to him. He has no memory of who he is or what he's doing in the hotel.

Then he meets a beautiful blond, Diane (Sheridan) who claims to be his wife. When he goes to a restaurant, the waitress (Liu) pours a pitcher of cold water on him -- he doesn't remember having any relationship with her, but she's plenty angry.

Slowly he starts to realize that he was a secret agent undercover as a janitor, and that his enemies want something he has.

To be honest, the outtakes shown at the end were funnier.

Cedric the Entertainer, as he is called, is funny with a nice presence, but this movie was just a lot of slapstick and shootouts. Lucy Liu was sexy and tough in her role -- it turns out she's an agent.

There just wasn't much to it as far as humor. Mark Dacascos is so handsome, it was almost worth watching it for him.

I don't have too much to say -- if it weren't for the fact that Nicolette Sheridan prances around in her skimpy underwear, a five year old might enjoy this movie.

For a James Bond prototype, this isn't that bad. One of the few that deserve more attention then they really get. The only other 'Bond' prototype that is as funny as this one would be Johnny English. Yes, we all have seen the plot, but it's the twist to the storyline that keeps it interesting. This time our hero wakes up in a hotel room, on the bed next to the dead man's body. It starts out more of a mystery, then quickens the pace just before the half way mark comes. Cedric is clearly at the top of his game both pyhsically and in his jokes. For sure he does a better job at keeping his material censored, heck, depending on the child, this could even be a kids movie.