David R. Walker

Posts Tagged ‘Taz Skylar’

Cleaner

Director: Martin Campbell

Cast: Daisy Ridley, Clive Owen, Taz Skylar, Ruth Gemmell, Matthew Tuck, Lee Boardman, Rufus Jones

Running Time: 1 hour 37 minutes

Film Rating: 6 out of 10

There is a mysterious independent film corporation simply called Anton which are releasing new original films. Anton released the creepy psychological suburban thriller Mother’s Instinct with Oscar winners Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables) and Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye). Anton’s corporate website says they have an address in Clerkenwell, London and operate remotely in Los Angeles.

Now Anton has released a distinctly British action film simply called Cleaner starring Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley as a skyscraper window cleaner opposite Oscar nominee Clive Owen (Closer) and British-Arab actor Taz Skylar as the demented environmental activist Noah.

Cleaner takes place entirely in a London skyscraper in Canary Wharf and revolves around Joey, a young woman with military training who has to look after her autistic brother Michael played by Matthew Tuck. Joey’s job is to do window cleaning at a posh skyscraper in the financial district of London. Things go awry when she has to bring her brother to work for the afternoon. Meanwhile high up, a glamourous shareholder’s cocktail party is about to take place for a shady energy company run by the cocaine sniffing Milton brothers Gerald played by Lee Boardman and Geoffrey played by Rufus Jones.

Soon a band of heavily disguised eco-terrorists led by Marcus played by Clive Owen (Children of Men, Gemini Man, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets) take the guests’ hostage and along with the demented Noah, want all these lavish corporate executives to confess to covering up widespread pollution and corporate corruption.

The only person that is not captured is Joey, wonderfully played by Daisy Ridley (Murder on the Orient Express) who has come a long way from the Star Wars franchise which cemented her fame.

Cleaner crisply directed by Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, The Mask of Zorro, The Protégé) makes for a thrilling 93 minutes with lots of action, high stakes treachery and Joey battling the evil climate change terrorists all while trying to save the hostages and protect her brother. Joey is helped by the temperate and sensible DS Hume well played by Ruth Gemmell.

London has never looked this contemporary with beautiful shots of the skyscrapers rising up like towers of progress amidst the fog of the British capital, location shots that are replicated in the brilliant hit series The Day of the Jackal starring Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch.

The storyline is very shaky and unfortunately Clive Owen’s star power is not maximised. His career has never really recovered from the heights of his early films like Gosford Park, Inside Man and Closer.

It’s great to see an action film lead by a formidable female star like Daisy Ridley. Cleaner is pure British action, like a slimmed down version of the Hollywood hit Die Hard without Bruce Willis’s 1980’s charisma.

Cleaner gets a film rating of 6 out of 10 and is no masterpiece, but watchable. This film is recommended viewing for light entertainment as an original British action film which has sufficient plot twists to keep the audience engaged.