August 26, 2024
FILM: THE CLEAN UP CREW
DIRECTED BY: JON KEEYES
STARRING: JONATHAN RHYS MEYERS, ANTONIO BANDERAS, MELISSA LEO
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
The Clean Up Crew features a hodge podge of criminals all after one thing: money. Wait? Has this ever been done before?! Of course, it has. So, the question becomes, what does director Jon Keeyes and screenwriter Matthew Rogers do differently here? Well, first off they assemble a pretty decent cast including Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Antonio Banderas, Melissa Leo, and Swen Temmel. Then there are the action scenes, filled with guns and shoot-outs – but this isn’t anything new. No, the best part may be the light tone of the film which remains pretty consistent beginning with some of the best opening credits I’ve seen in a while through scenes which are not laugh out loud funny but never overly serious.
The set-up concerns a crime boss, played by Banderas, who is trying to get back a significant amount of money that he believes is his. In another location, a Tarantino-style shoot-out occurs in a safe house where the money is hidden inside, what else, but a suitcase. In comes the clean-up crew of the title. It is their job to wipe clean such crime scene messes – until they find the suitcase and everything goes out of control.
There’s not anything overly complex or rich about this plot. We’ve seen it before. What’s interesting is watching some of these actors inhabit the characters as they wade through the goings-on throughout the narrative. Meyers is Alex who is in a relationship with Meagan (Ekaterina Baker.) She, in particular, sees a huge need for the money so they can start their life together. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Meyers in a film. He’s older and a bit more haggard than in his younger days in films like Todd Haynes’s Velvet Goldmine and Woody Allen’s Match Point. His body is also a bit run down even though the character attempts to box to keep himself in shape (or at least to fight off any foes he encounters.) There’s an intensity to Meyers that feels similar to what we’ve seen in his other performances. Rogers’s script does offer him a few moments of levity though.
Temmel plays an odd mix of one part intense war veteran, another part doofus, and another a nervous chain smoker. He’s interesting to watch if a bit inconsistent. It can be hard to determine exactly where his character is coming from. Oscar-winner Melissa Leo sports an Irish accent as Siobhan, the motherly figure in the crew. She’s fine and nicely controlled in the role. The best of the clean-up gang is Ekaterina Baker as Meagan. She offers a cool, confident, character that is seemingly unafraid and determined to get that money.
Then there’s Banderas as mob boss Gabriel. He is the first character we meet in the film and watching the actor is a bit mesmerizing. This is unlike anything I’ve seen Banderas play before yet he hams it up to an alarming level, which could have been directed for some Oscar love but instead is just a bit too full of ticks and over-the-top mannerisms to be taken that seriously. Still, he is fun to watch.
It’s pretty clear that director Jon Keeyes is trying to emulate some of the more low-budget action thrillers from the 1990s. He uses a lot of stylized cuts, split screens, and creative camera movements that were pretty much in vogue at the time. It’s interesting to watch but does feel a bit dated aesthetically. Colors are heightened to include deep greens and reds in most of the interior set pieces. Along with a slightly whimsical score, they make the film feel somewhat like a cartoon, albeit without the screwball elements that might have made it more fun.
Rogers’s script attempts some philosophical musings in addition to some witty dialogue. Gabriel is consumed by Machiavelli’s The Prince which explores power and the strategies to achieve it. This may be seen as the character’s “how-to” book so that he can develop and maintain his own empire. It’s never presented as anything overly serious but clearly it’s important to Gabriel.
Ultimately, there’s not a lot that’s particularly original in The Clean Up Crew. It’s fairly lightweight entertainment with a lot of violence and guns. A slightly better film in this same comic/action/thriller vein is the Matt Damon/Casey Affleck film The Investigators from a few weeks back. Both of these films represent what used to be summer popcorn fare to see in theaters but are now being relegated to streaming services because, apparently, the adults who once wanted to see such films are primarily viewing them at home. I’m not sure that this effects the overall experience watching such films but they are feeling like they are part of a genre that is deflating pretty rapidly from the public’s consciousness.
The Clean Up Crew is available to rent on Amazon Prime.
FILM: THE CLEAN UP CREW
DIRECTED BY: JON KEEYES
STARRING: JONATHAN RHYS MEYERS, ANTONIO BANDERAS, MELISSA LEO
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
The Clean Up Crew features a hodge podge of criminals all after one thing: money. Wait? Has this ever been done before?! Of course, it has. So, the question becomes, what does director Jon Keeyes and screenwriter Matthew Rogers do differently here? Well, first off they assemble a pretty decent cast including Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Antonio Banderas, Melissa Leo, and Swen Temmel. Then there are the action scenes, filled with guns and shoot-outs – but this isn’t anything new. No, the best part may be the light tone of the film which remains pretty consistent beginning with some of the best opening credits I’ve seen in a while through scenes which are not laugh out loud funny but never overly serious.
The set-up concerns a crime boss, played by Banderas, who is trying to get back a significant amount of money that he believes is his. In another location, a Tarantino-style shoot-out occurs in a safe house where the money is hidden inside, what else, but a suitcase. In comes the clean-up crew of the title. It is their job to wipe clean such crime scene messes – until they find the suitcase and everything goes out of control.
There’s not anything overly complex or rich about this plot. We’ve seen it before. What’s interesting is watching some of these actors inhabit the characters as they wade through the goings-on throughout the narrative. Meyers is Alex who is in a relationship with Meagan (Ekaterina Baker.) She, in particular, sees a huge need for the money so they can start their life together. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Meyers in a film. He’s older and a bit more haggard than in his younger days in films like Todd Haynes’s Velvet Goldmine and Woody Allen’s Match Point. His body is also a bit run down even though the character attempts to box to keep himself in shape (or at least to fight off any foes he encounters.) There’s an intensity to Meyers that feels similar to what we’ve seen in his other performances. Rogers’s script does offer him a few moments of levity though.
Temmel plays an odd mix of one part intense war veteran, another part doofus, and another a nervous chain smoker. He’s interesting to watch if a bit inconsistent. It can be hard to determine exactly where his character is coming from. Oscar-winner Melissa Leo sports an Irish accent as Siobhan, the motherly figure in the crew. She’s fine and nicely controlled in the role. The best of the clean-up gang is Ekaterina Baker as Meagan. She offers a cool, confident, character that is seemingly unafraid and determined to get that money.
Then there’s Banderas as mob boss Gabriel. He is the first character we meet in the film and watching the actor is a bit mesmerizing. This is unlike anything I’ve seen Banderas play before yet he hams it up to an alarming level, which could have been directed for some Oscar love but instead is just a bit too full of ticks and over-the-top mannerisms to be taken that seriously. Still, he is fun to watch.
It’s pretty clear that director Jon Keeyes is trying to emulate some of the more low-budget action thrillers from the 1990s. He uses a lot of stylized cuts, split screens, and creative camera movements that were pretty much in vogue at the time. It’s interesting to watch but does feel a bit dated aesthetically. Colors are heightened to include deep greens and reds in most of the interior set pieces. Along with a slightly whimsical score, they make the film feel somewhat like a cartoon, albeit without the screwball elements that might have made it more fun.
Rogers’s script attempts some philosophical musings in addition to some witty dialogue. Gabriel is consumed by Machiavelli’s The Prince which explores power and the strategies to achieve it. This may be seen as the character’s “how-to” book so that he can develop and maintain his own empire. It’s never presented as anything overly serious but clearly it’s important to Gabriel.
Ultimately, there’s not a lot that’s particularly original in The Clean Up Crew. It’s fairly lightweight entertainment with a lot of violence and guns. A slightly better film in this same comic/action/thriller vein is the Matt Damon/Casey Affleck film The Investigators from a few weeks back. Both of these films represent what used to be summer popcorn fare to see in theaters but are now being relegated to streaming services because, apparently, the adults who once wanted to see such films are primarily viewing them at home. I’m not sure that this effects the overall experience watching such films but they are feeling like they are part of a genre that is deflating pretty rapidly from the public’s consciousness.
The Clean Up Crew is available to rent on Amazon Prime.