CODE NAME: THE CLEANER

US, 2007, 91 minutes, Colour.
Cedric the Entertainer, Lucy Liu, Nicollette Sheridan, Will Patton, Mark Dacascos, Callum Keith Rennie.
Directed by Les Mayfield.

An innocuous time-passer for an undemanding rainy afternoon. And for fans of Cedric the Entertainer and his particularly American style.

It’s a spoof of Bondish spy films as well as the world of videogames and their effect on the imaginations of susceptible males.

Cedric wakes to find himself next to a dead body - and his memory gone. As flashes come back, he believes he is Colonel Bowman, a special forces expert involved in secret government missions. Suddenly he is picked up by the glamorous Nicolette Sheridan as if she were a desperate housewife to Cedric. Needless to say, she is on the side of the villains. Then the chases start.

Cedric is helped by a waitress, Lucy Lui in Charlie’s Angels vein, who can serve up some martial arts moves as well. Needless to say, she is on the side of the goodies.

It’s all to do with a Seattle company trying to manufacture an encoded chip which can’t be broken and planting it in the Colonel Bowman game. There is a whistleblower, the FBI, a rogue agent, a businessman who is also into martial arts, a rap-singing janitor and Cedric trying to remember who he is.

Well-produced but with a script that is both corny and basic, it is a film that is here today, gone tomorrow.

1.Popular entertainment? American style? Comedy, spoof of spy films? Computer games?

2.The Seattle settings, the city, the wealthy homes, apartments, cafes? The streets? The headquarters of the company? The interiors? The musical score?

3.The title, the spoof of the James Bond style spy films, computer games?

4.Cedric the Entertainer, as a screen presence? Jake Rodgers and the ambiguity of his identity? His waking up, the dead body, his panic, taking the money and running? His loss of memory? His encounter with Diane, pretending to be his wife, the wealthy home, the seduction, the plan to torture him? His escape, meeting Gina? Going to the hotel, getting the card? The memories gradually coming back – seeing him in action, as Captain Bowman? The going to the various houses, the pursuit? The FBI after him? His vanity, thinking he was a martial arts champion? Into the building, with Gina, the relationship with Gina? Her skills? His gradually remembering the truth, going to the airport to meet Riley? The confrontation with Eric? Shaw and the FBI pursuit? Remembering where the disc was hidden, finding it, trapped with Gina? The shootout? The martial arts? The farcical aspects of the fights? Riley, the FBI, the recovery? His becoming a hero? His friends the Janitors, the reality of his life as a Janitor and cleaner? His future? With Gina?

5.Diane, glamour, meeting Jake at the hotel, the car, the house, posing as his wife, trying to get the truth? Her later pursuit of him, the truth? Ruthless? Relationship with Eric? The comeuppance – except for her place in Jake’s imagination?

6.Riley, the whistleblower, the contact with Jake, the airport meeting, Riley and the FBI? The finale, success?

7.Eric, his company, the computer game? His henchmen? Turning the FBI agent? His plan to get the weapon, encrypting the disc? With Diane, the pursuit in the building? His comeuppance?

8.Gina, undercover, as the waitress, relationship with Jake, helping him? The fights? The clash with Diane?

9.Supporting characters, the FBI, believing Shaw rather than Gina? The doctor trying to test Jake? Shaw giving Jake the truth drug? The Janitors, Ronnie and his patter, his rap, all connected with Janitor and cleaning work?

10.Jacuzzi, the jokes, the relationship with Jake, wanting the meal, her hair done? In the boot of the car?

11.Popular ingredients? Innocuous? The parody of computer games and the battle sequences? The spoof of the FBI and spies?