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Reviews
Code Name: The Cleaner (2007)
Not the usual bad movie
With perhaps any other contemporary actor in the lead role -- Jake Rodgers, aka, The Cleaner (Cedric the Entertainer) -- this film would have been a total bust. As some of the other folks commenting on here have already mentioned, the storyline is both contrived and in many ways superconventionally executed -- so much so that it risks becoming one long cliché. If you're looking for stimulating American cinema, or even a good action movie or espionage thriller, you should see something else.
What saves CODE NAME: THE CLEANER for me, I think, is the utter preposterousness of casting Cedric the Entertainer as an amnesiac slowly convincing himself (and, supposedly, the viewer) that he is actually a secret agent working for the American government. I love Lucy Liu, but this is not her (best) film -- she plays more or less the same character she has played elsewhere (including the borderline racist trope that, since she is of Asian descent, she must be a masterful practitioner of at least one martial art) -- although her performance is true, and is enhanced comically by her playing opposite Cedric. None of the rest of the characters or actors -- including Nicollette Sheridan -- does much for the film, and the writing and direction are mediocre at best. But Cedric the Entertainer trying to convince us he's a superspy? That's worth the rental.
Hang 'Em High (1968)
Almost Conscientious
A Western well worth the watching, HANG 'EM HIGH presents an interesting -- if understated -- commentary on the instantiation of justice in a single individual. While Cooper (Clint Eastwood) is definitely the focus of the film and deservedly so -- it is Cooper's story, after all -- perhaps the most intriguing character is the Judge. Burdened with the responsibility of governing the entire territory alone, without checks and balances, without recourse to a higher authority, the Judge rules with the gallows. While he admits his own fallibility, he also denies any other options than swift and frequent executions of criminals. Cooper, while clearly not opposed to capital punishment in any strict sense, is unwilling to accept that the Judge's system, killing to legitimate his own authority so as to maintain order in the territory, is just. However interesting, the political content of the film remains obscured by the more traditional affectations of the genre, including gunfights and scenes from the obligatory wild West brothel.
Happy Land (1943)
Good job, Harry. Bad job, Harry. (Different Harrys.)
Overall, this film falls within the much larger group of films from this period during screenings of which I like to call, "Buy war bonds!" Not as propagandistic as, say, THOUSANDS CHEER, HAPPY LAND can boast of a relatively amazing performance by a young Harry Morgan, as well as a generally high quality of acting on the part of the star, Don Ameche. Harry Carey, as Gramp, is a bit over the top, however. When HAPPY LAND doesn't remind you of an advertisement for the U.S. War Dept., it will remind you of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. Unless you're a die-hard Harry Morgan fan, save yourself the trouble and see Jimmy Stewart relive HIS life in a small town. It's a bit more interesting.