The Clean Up Crew (2024)

2 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Spotless Bind

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Jon Keeyes's bloody crime comedy The Clean Up Crew ultimately doesn't have a whole lot going on, but it keeps up an entertaining level of energy with its amusingly weird characters and their deadpan dialogue exchanges.

Alex (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and his girlfriend Meagan (Ekaterina Baker) work for Good Life Cleaners, under Siobhan (Melissa Leo), cleaning crime scenes. On their latest job, they find a suitcase full of money. Siobhan recommends turning it in, and it is agreed that the fourth crew member, Chuck (Swen Temmel), shouldn't have it, as he'd spend it on drugs. But Meagan convinces Alex that they, together, should take it to help jump-start their future together.

Meanwhile, the money actually belongs to crime lord Gabriel (Antonio Banderas), who likes to quote Machiavelli. The money was to be used to pay off some crooked cops, and there's some urgency about getting it back. Things take a turn when Gabriel kidnaps Meagan, and this dirty business must be settled once and for all.

Directed by Keeyes (Cult Killer), The Clean Up Crew keeps us on our toes with its characters that react in huge ways, and then with its characters who react hardly at all. Banderas's Gabriel never leaves his office and spends most of his time yelling at people to "get me my f---ing money!" but he somehow makes the character fun.

The four clean up crew members are cleverly matched, although Rhys Meyers sometimes goes a little too far over the top ("we're going up the chain!"), as if not interested in reading the room. Chuck is especially interesting, rarely registering emotion, but able to strike with the force of some kind of secret military training. Stealing money from gangsters is never a good idea, and it's refreshing to have characters like Chuck and Siobhan who remind us of that.

The color schemes and use of space are also sometimes surprisingly inspired, with red and green prominent throughout, and a purplish-green for Gabriel's office. Of course, The Clean Up Crew has its banal moments as well, but on the whole it's a decent enough time-passer, and better than actual cleaning.