Directed by Jon Keeyes, “The Clean Up Crew” has many things going right for itself as a comedic crime thriller. Written by Matthew Rogers, the screenplay brings in quirky elements to add flavor to its rudimentary plotline. It follows a criminal kingpin who is obsessed with Machiavelli’s quotes. In fact, after a point, the film almost feels like a collection of every possible Machiavelli quote you can find in the Goodreads quotes section!
Besides the crime boss, the film features a ruthless war veteran with an unclear past. It involves seasoned criminals and corrupt officers, all of whom are opportunists. On top of that, it stars people as experienced as Oscar-nominated Antonio Banderas and Oscar-winning Melissa Leo. Therefore, it leaves very little room to complain.
Spoilers Ahead
The Clean Up Crew (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
Jon Keeyes’ “The Clean Up Crew” follows a group of crime scene cleanup crew as they fight with seasoned criminals and corrupt government agents to get hold of a briefcase full of money they accidentally find.
What happens in ‘The Clean Up Crew’?
“The Clean Up Crew” opens with an interaction between a corrupt government agent, Officer James (Conor Mullen), and an eccentric crime boss, Gabriel Barrett (Antonio Banderas). During the meeting, they hope to discuss the details of their upcoming deal. For some reason, Gabriel is obsessed with the Florentine author Niccolo Machiavelli. Throughout their conversation, he mentions Machiavelli’s quotes and notes how James’ strategy during their past encounter was Machiavellian. James gets tired of Gabriel’s incoherent rambling. Still, he puts up with it to get some answers.
It turns out Gabriel took over a previously failed organization and turned it around in James’ territory. That’s why James wants a cut from Gabriel’s profits. Gabriel recounts a violent encounter between his and James’ men when six of his men got killed. James points out that three of his agents also got killed. Regardless, Gabriel believes he doesn’t need protection from James. But James tries to convince him to get past their differences and join hands for a better future. Suddenly, Gabriel pulls out his gun and points at James’ head. Moments later, he reveals he acted in jest. So, he agrees to a deal.
The Cleaning Crew
Three years later, James meets Gabriel to ask about his delayed payment. Both their cronies meet at an empty house. Before their meeting with Black (Leslie Stratton) and Gray (Lee Hunter), Danny (Laurence Kinlan) and Jack (Andy Kellegher) hide a briefcase full of money in the fireplace. Soon, things go south, and they end up shooting each other. After that violent encounter, only the wounded Danny survives. Soon after, a crime scene cleanup crew is hired to clean the bloody mess. The crew, led by Siobhan (Melissa Leo), includes Alex (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), his girlfriend, Meagan (Ekaterina Baker), and Chuck/Charlie (Swen Temmel).
Despite working together for a while, Chuck remains an enigma to everyone else. So, Alex asks for Chuck’s history in the army but receives no clear answer. While cleaning, Chuck notices the briefcase inside the fireplace. Alex takes it out but doesn’t want to open it. He is afraid they will find themselves in trouble if they do that. However, Meagan thinks they should take a bet. ‘What if there’s so much money inside that they won’t have to work again?’ she wonders. Siobhan allows her to steal the money but doesn’t want any part of it. While they are almost done with their job, Danny walks inside the house to get hold of the case.
The Briefcase of Money
Danny tries to scare the cleaning crew to procure the briefcase. But Siobhan pays no heed to Danny’s intimidation. Then, Chuck walks in and beats Danny repeatedly. While the crew starts talking about their next strategy, Chuck suddenly faints. Alex wakes him up. Then, they all wake up Danny to learn about his connection to the briefcase. Danny asks them to kill him. But the crew keeps him alive to know the code to open the case. Soon, Chuck tortures Danny to learn the code. Danny reveals the code to Alex, who opens the case. Inside, he finds over £2 million that belongs to the Special Crimes Agency (SCA).
Siobhan doesn’t want anything to do with the money, worried it will backfire on them. But Alex convinces her to take Danny to her place, fearing Danny’s associates may follow him to the place. The crew stashes Danny in a sack and carries him to their van. While that happens, James’ associate, Officer Garland (Ian Toner), arrives at Gabriel’s HQ. He reveals the SCA did not receive the money as expected. Gabriel assumes Garland is deceiving him to get some more money for himself. Garland objects to that and warns Gabriel of legal action in the next three days unless he stands by his words and pays the expected amount.
Gabriel’s Dilemma
After he meets with Garland, Gabriel realizes only one of his men (Danny or Jack) is alive. He gets photographic evidence of Siobhan’s crew carrying a body. So, he sends Rob (Matthew Tompkins) to retrieve the briefcase from the crew. While that happens, the crew brings Danny to Siobhan’s place. Meagan worries the money is not safe in Siobhan’s hands. Subsequently, she tells Alex they should keep the briefcase in their hold. Siobhan overhears their conversation and heads out with the money. She believes they shouldn’t use the money since it is a part of the crime and plans to contact the police. So, she and Chuck drive away with it.
The Clean Up Crew (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
Alex decides to honor Meagan’s wishes and get hold of the money to start their new lives. However, moments later, he gets beaten to the ground. When he wakes up, he cannot find Meagan in the house. During that time, Rob kidnaps Meagan and takes her to Gabriel’s office. Soon, Chuck has a change of heart and decides to help Alex find Meagan. Chuck, Alex, and Siobhan take Danny to a different location. Upon questioning, Danny leads them to his boss. Alex and Chuck follow Danny’s lead and meet his boss. They learn about their next lead: a man named O’Connor. Right after, Chuck drowns the man to death. Then, he and Alex show up at O’Connor’s place.
Alex gets shot in the chest but survives because of his vest. By the time he gets back up, Chuck kills all of O’Connor’s men. He then forces Chuck to kill O’Connor. Right after, Alex starts questioning the morality of his choice. Then, he and Chuck return to their base. After a brief discussion, Siobhan privately questions Danny. Then, she leaves on her own. Soon after, a group of hitmen show up at the base. Chuck manages to defeat them all. Afterward, the two realize that Siobhan sent these men to defeat them. She sold them out and returned the briefcase to Gabriel’s organization. After confronting her, Alex and Chuck decide to save Meagan and get hold of the money.
In the end, who gets the briefcase full of cash?
Alex and Chuck follow the leads to reach Gabriel’s HQ. They sneak inside to witness a standoff between the government agents and the criminals. James confronts Gabriel for his careless actions that led to the bloodbath. Then, out of nowhere, Officer Garland goes against the chain of command and shoots James to death. Now that James is out of the equation, he negotiates the details of the future deals with Gabriel. While they discuss, Chuck faints with his sword next to him. So, Gabriel’s men panic and start shooting around. Garland tries to run away with the briefcase but gets killed. Alex keeps shooting Gabriel’s men to death.
Eventually, Chuck wakes up and helps Alex defeat Rob. Soon, Siobhan shows up there and shoots Rob. She and Alex resolve their differences for the greater good. Once Rob is killed, the cleaning crew reaches Gabriel’s office. Siobhan rescues Meagan. Then, Alex gets into a fight with Gabriel. At the end of “The Clean Up Crew,” Alex kills Gabriel and takes Machiavelli’s book to Gabriel’s table. Siobhan gets hold of the briefcase and heads out with her crew.
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