Code Name: The Cleaner (2007)

I had seen the trailer for "Code Name: The Cleaner". It looked like a spy spoof. However, more importantly it starred very hot movie starlets Lucy Liu and Nichollette Sheridan ("Desperate Housewives"). Gathering from the trailers Cedric the Entertainer's character is suffering from some sort of amnesia. He finds out he has a white wife played by Nichollette Sheridan and a mansion. Cedric the Entertainer says, "I must be Lionel Richie." I thought that was hilarious. However, I am old. Audiences today are more familiar with the arrests and eating habits of his daughter Nicole Richie. Thus, this is the inherent miscalculation of "Code Name: The Cleaner". The movie was probably funny to those making the movie, without a tangible audience in mind. Too bad. I really like Cedric the Entertainer—he is funny. But he is so off the mark here. Sexy Nichollette Sheridan is whacked out as the femme fa-tale Diane posing as Jake's (Cedric the Entertainer) wife. The only thing that could have saved the movie is if her lingerie mysteriously slipped off her stunning body. Really, too bad. Lucy Liu looks fabulous and looks killer in the marital arts action sequences. Her fight scene with Sheridan could have been a lot longer. Also, too bad.

There is little redeeming in "Code Name: The Cleaner" other than its stars. For that blame the lameness of Director Les Mayfield and the horrendous writing of Robert Adetuyi and George Gallo. The tell tale symptom of this miserable collapse is that the most entertaining part of the movie are the outtakes at the end. Seems at least the cast and crew were having fun. One can only hope that there is more of Cedric, Sheridan, and Liu in the DVD release. Don't hold your breath.