Cleaner

2007, US, directed by Renny Harlin

Samuel L. Jackson seems like a nice guy, and he's certainly a hard-working actor, so it's a shame that he often ends up in forgettable rubbish like this (though that said, he's worked with director Renny Harlin several times now: it's not like he doesn't know what he's getting into). Harlin must be getting a little desperate himself, for his movie often comes across as an audition tape for an episode of CSI, with that show's discomfitingly aestheticized crime scenes - all artfully lit blood and brain matter, and not much humanity. There's the germ of a decent B-flick in here - the cast is generally strong, even if Harlin tends to use them a little too much to type, making the outcome more than guessable - and the attempt to balance Jackson's unusual work with his fraught home life often succeeds, but the film ultimately comes across as too convoluted, and too self-conscious, for its own good.