As per the call-in sheet for the job, he enters the fabulous mansion using a key placed under a plant on the front porch. The house is completely empty, but Tom gets right to work. He takes a number of pictures of the scene, as is his practice. As always, he does an amazing job at the bloody scene, where someone was obviously shot while sitting on the pristine white leather couch. After leaving the job site, he realizes that he still has the key in his pocket. The next day, he goes to the house to return the key and finds the door unlocked. When he interrupts a surprise birthday party, he tries to explain to Ann Norcut (Eva Mendes), the lovely lady of the house, that he just needs to return the key from yesterday's job. Tom soon realizes that she knows nothing of the job that was done yesterday and his spidey-sense starts going off. He covers things up smoothly, but goes home to wonder what is up.
As he hears a news report about a missing man who is strongly connected politically and realizes that this same name was on the sheet for yesterday's job, he starts to put things together. Was he set up to clean up a crime scene before the police even knew about it? He reaches out to former partner, Eddie Lorenzo (Ed Harris), godfather to his daughter, Rose (Keke Palmer), hoping to get some answers. It seems that the missing man, whose body eventually turns up, was deeply involved in a huge police department pay-off. In fact, Norcut was the money man over the years and possibly, his murder was tied to the ongoing investigation into the police department. Ann (Mendes) seeks out Carver for answers in her husband's disappearance and murder, revealing that he kept a ledger of information for his own protection. Once Carver gets a look at the ledger, he realizes his name is in the book and that by exposing the ledger, he could implicate himself in Norcut's murder. Soon, cops on the pay-off list are investigating Norcut's murder and breathing down Tom's neck. He fights to untangle the web of deceit before it costs him his life.
Cleaner has a pretty interesting premise and although we figured things out long before they were revealed, the ride to the finish was still a good one. Samuel L. is excellent as Tom because he has to deal with the emotions raging in his teenaged daughter over not having a mother, plus has this other possibly life-altering mess going on. Ed Harris does his part justice, as he always does, and Eva Mendes shines as Ann Norcut, innocent widow or something more? Cleaner is more of a thinking film than an action flick, but it definitely has its tense moments. If you enjoy thrillers, give Cleaner a try.
