Michael Campell has directed terrific films such as GoldenEye (1995), The Mask of Zorro (1998), and Casino Royal (2006), but his latest isn’t among his best. Cleaner is, however, a serviceable action adventure in the vein of Die Hard (1988).
Former soldier Joey is having a rough day. She’s late for work when she gets a call that her autistic brother, Michael (Matthew Tucker), is being kicked out of another care facility for hacking their system and exposing fiscal malfeasance. She has no choice but to bring Michael to Agnian Energy Company, where she’s a skyscraper window cleaner. Things go wrong when Earth Revolution, an environmental activist group led by Marcus Blake (Clive Owens), infiltrates a shareholder gala, holding everyone hostage and demanding they admit their environmental misdeeds.
Things go from bad to worse when Noah (Taz Skylar), a member of Earth Revolution who had been posing as Joey’s fellow window cleaner, escalates the situation into potential terrorism by setting explosives wearing a dead man’s switch. With Joey trapped outside the building in repelling rigging and her brother inside, can she find a way in and save the hostages? Yes, duh. But getting there is fun. (97 min.)
—Glen Starkey
This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 6, 2025.