Â鶹ԼÅÄ

Christmas is coming and turkeys don't come much bigger than this undercooked spy comedy. Cedric The Entertainer plays the central character Jake Rodgers, a walking - or rather bumbling - racial stereotype who, after a bang to the head thinks he's a CIA agent known as 'The Cleaner'. He's convinced he's the guy who 'mops up' evidence, when in fact the only mopping up he appears to do are the floors of the video game manufacturer where he works as a janitor.

Cedric, you see, has a bad case of amnesia. But he sure as hell ain't no Jason Bourne. After waking up in a hotel room next to a dead FBI agent and a suitcase of money, Jake goes on the run, or rather more accurately wanders clumsily around carrying the dumb plot (the hunt for a computer chip that can hide criminal information) with him. A pathetic spoof attempt, Code Name… just gets bogged down by painfully unfunny puerile gags and no-brainer dialogue - but then you'd expect nothing less from the director behind such visual delights as Flubber and The Man.

"A COMPLETE WASH-OUT"

In fact, the majority of the film is a complete wash-out, which makes you wonder why on earth the named cast signed up for it. Nicollette Sheridan (Desperate Housewives' Edie), as Cedric's 'wife' Diane, does little but prance about in scantily clad lingerie, while his 'girlfriend' Lucy Lui is reduced to playfighting with plungers and buckets. It's saying a lot that the most entertaining moment is when Cedric wallops the bad guys over the head with a wet-floor sign. The sooner Code Name... gets flushed out of cinemas, the better.

Code Name: The Cleaner is out in the UK on 7th December 2007.