Cleaner Review

Cleaner feels like a relic from a bygone era. The many comparisons it’s received to Die Hard are debatable, although the marketing is certainly inviting them. To be fair, their cores are the same: an action-thriller in the style of an airport novel about an unassuming person thrust into a dangerous situation whose skills and wits help take down some terrorists. This type of lower-budget popcorn flick use to be a cinema mainstay, reliably bringing out audiences for a largely unremarkable yet well-constructed and compelling spectacle. They’d rely on word of mouth to drive box office, aiming for profitability by staying in theaters for months. And they could count on a strong second life in the video store, on people’s shelves, and on cable.

But that business model doesn’t really exist any more. Smaller films are no longer guaranteed a multi-week run, denying them the requisite time to build a reputation. The physical media market is a shadow of what it once was. Video stores are all but dead, and cable subscriptions have been sliding for the past decade. When you combine that with the change in moviegoer behavior (e.g. only going to the theater for “event films”), it’s clear why so many release on streaming, like last year’s Carry-On. Which makes it especially exciting to see one on the big screen wield that scale to emphasize the danger as successfully as Cleaner does.

A window cleaner is not a common protagonist. Even more rare is watching them spend a significant amount of time suspended from a fifty-story building. Joey (Daisy Ridley) is assigned to One Canada Square in London, so we get as many lovely shots of Canary Wharf as vertigo-inducing looks to the ground far below. She’s had a chaotic start to her day, resulting in her autistic brother Michael (Matthew Tuck) hanging out in the building’s lobby. Being kept late at work results in catching glimpses of the gala being thrown by sustainable energy company Agnian Energy. It also gives her a unique view of the subsequent attack from ecological activist/terrorist group Earth Revolution, led by Marcus and Noah (Clive Owen and Taz Skyler).

That’s where the movie makes two key decisions which elevate it above others of its ilk.

The first is the source of the attack. Why would a sustainable energy company land in the cross-hairs of a group concerned with humanity’s destruction of the planet? Simple: they’ve discovered connections between Agnian and unethical behavior worldwide, ranging from dumping to bribery to mistreatment of workers, and more. They lack evidence, so their goal is to force the executives to confess on camera for the world to see. However, it quickly becomes clear that while Earth Revolution is a relatively peaceful group, the type that gives the occupants of a coal plant ample warning to evacuate before they bomb it in protest, not every member is so protective of innocent human lives. A power struggle develops as characters fight over the role violence plays in activism and the acceptability of collateral damage. Of course, given the film’s genre, that conversation is purely a way to characterize the villains, not a nuanced and  level-headed discussion. Still, it’s an effective mechanism for making the movie about something while also driving its plot forward.

The other is its restraint with Joey, which is why I must caveat the Die Hard comparisons. We know from the opening scene she’s a bad ass. She’s been doing parkour to balance precariously on high ledges since she was a child, and was a highly trained solider until being thrown out of the military for a fistfight. Yet for a good while, she’s sidelined from the main event. Trapped on the outside of the building, her usefulness is restricted to aiding the police, serving as an extra set of eyes for Superintendent Claire Hume (Ruth Gemmel). Her prior relationships and proximity to the event give her a valuable insight into the group’s actions. Of course, her situation gets more precarious once they discover her presence, slowly escalating until she’s forced into action. Importantly, she’s not eager to play the hero: her only concern is getting her brother to safety. She won’t be crawling around in the air ducts, nor walking barefoot across broken glass to save the day. But when the time calls for it, she proves very capable.

Unfortunately, the movie is frequently straining under its own weight. The messages about corporate greenwashing and activist infighting are well-received, but the movie feels like it wants to be taken more seriously than the script can handle. From stock villain tropes to clunky dialog to some unfortunate stereotypes employed for Michael’s autism, it gets a bit lost in the execution. They combine to reduce its perceived importance to simple plot devices. Additionally, there are significant portions of the script where not much is happening. Other problems the film spends precious time on don’t seem to matter in the end, such as the cleaning stage getting stuck at a steep angle. The visibility of its wheel-spinning can make even its breezy 96 minutes feel a tad bloated.

However, its entertainment value is bolstered by some very game core performances. Ruth Gemmel is a compelling screen presence, although the script doesn’t do much to help her out. Daisy Ridley has repeatedly shown quite a range, and deploys her natural intensity here to ground even the more fantastic events. Clive Owen exudes a gravitas that only deepens as he continues into his “elder Statesman” years. But for my money, the real standout is Taz Skyler. While he does’t approach the meteoric heights of the instantly iconic Hans Gruber, Noah’s demeanor and worldview grants Skyler the freedom to just go for it. And go for it he does! Noah is a somewhat unassuming bloke who nonetheless towers over the film, brought to life with an unhinged fire behind his eyes, making him that much scarier. He’s a cartoon character to be sure, but Skyler’s performance presents the illusion of depth incredibly well.

Cleaner is not an essential film by any definition. Its restraint runs dangerously close to sapping its overall engagement. While some side characters are well developed, there are so few with unique and captivating identities, and no immediately quotable lines. Still, it’s an above average version of this story, and a great showcase for a few actors in very different places in their careers. It’s just a good time at the movies, especially in a period of the calendar defined by its dreck. What more could you ask for?