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Code Name: The Cleaner
Metascore
33 out of 100

Generally unfavorable - based on 18 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 18
  3. Negative: 7 out of 18
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  1. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Michael Ordona
    60
    Offers no surprises but is good-natured and funny. It's mercifully devoid of car chases, although it does have a truly inane gunfight -- did any of these trained killers ever hear of target practice? -- and some out-of-left-field martial arts.
  2. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    58
    The movie finally comes to life when Liu turns up.
  3. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Peter Hartlaub
    50
    Although the finished product isn't great, it's more akin to a bad Steve Martin movie from the 1980s than bad Pauly Shore from the 1990s. We mean that as a compliment (sort of).
  4. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    50
    The humor is too adult for children and the plot far too childish for most adults; in fact, everything about the film is really too silly to warrant much consideration.
  5. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    50
    The problem is, while the thriller aspects of the movie are serviceable, they aren't good enough to form the basis of anything more serious than a sit-com, and by spending as much time on them as Code Name: The Cleaner does, it makes the film at times seem drawn-out and tedious.
  6. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Bill White
    50
    Gets entertaining when Liu kicks in.
  7. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Neil Genzlinger
    50
    Cedric the Entertainer's artless performance deadens what could have been a much funnier comedy.
  8. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    40
    This implausible plot full of holes does pave the way for a series of Cedric the Entertainer skits and physical gags. None of these is very funny. A few are painfully unfunny. In either case, the movie comes to a standstill. It's a pity no one thought to screen old Bob Hope movies to see how to integrate comedy into genre filmmaking.
  9. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    40
    This is an especially limp star vehicle that delivers a few widely spaced moments of frivolity before what should be a quick mop-up trip to the DVD aisles.
  10. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    40
    Aside from Cedric's admittedly appealing persona -- he's always watchable, even in dreck like this -- there's absolutely nothing to recommend The Cleaner.
  11. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    40
    Never really generates any serious laughs.
  12. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    38
    How do films this stale and generic continue to get made, let alone with topflight talent? Cedric has been stealing scenes from bigger names for nearly a decade; he deserves better than a few amusingly-improvised minutes at the end of his own movie. And so do we.
  13. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    38
    Isn't as bad as you'd think, but this comic mash-up of "The Bourne Identity" and "Fat Albert" doesn't have much heft.
  14. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    25
    It's another standard-issue bad star-vehicle action-comedy, this time for Cedric.
  15. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Gregory Kirschling
    25
    Get Lucy Liu better roles!
  16. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Luke Y. Thompson
    20
    Cedric gets some help from a butt-kicking babe (Lucy Liu) who may or may not be his girlfriend, and if you believe this pairing could plausibly happen, you might be gullible enough to buy a ticket to this movie.
  17. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Pete Vonder Haar
    10
    I humbly submit that Cedric the Entertainer be required to give up the "Entertainer" portion of his nom de plume until he actually starts entertaining us.
  18. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Toddy Burton
    0
    The most poignant point in the whole painful endeavor is when the credits roll. It's here that we see the outtakes and watch Cedric riffing as he improvs variations on his dialogue. These outtakes are genuinely funny, standing as reminders that the last 90 minutes were a sad waste of talent.
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User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
3.3 out of 10

Generally unfavorable- based on 12 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 4
  3. Negative: 1 out of 4
  1. PnArdyPnArdy
    5
    Not so bad action comedy. However, I would say, the action part looks rather silly and way unrealistic. I love Lucy Liu and Cedric. She's gorgeous as always.… Full Review »
  2. ChadS.
    4
    Film noir as low-brow comedy; that's the platform, that's the m.o. for "Code Name: Cleaner", a forgettable, but arguably transgressive film("Double Indemnity" wouldn't have a gag reel this funny) which reimagines Dashiel Hammett as Keenan Ivory Wayans. A janitor indeed makes a good everyman, but "Code Name: the Cleaner" isn't really serious about reinventing film noir for a demographic that doesn't watch Turner Classic Movies. For some reason, the film shies away from going to that absurd level the audience is anticipating. The special ops flashbacks are wasted, but in a way, they faintly recall "Existenz" since those memories are a simulation.… Full Review »
  3. DavidH.
    6
    Though not a highly publicised movie, it still had many moments for laughter. A simple movie that is simply enjoyable.
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