Sunshine Cleaning (C+ or 2.5/4 stars)
Rose (Amy Adams), a struggling single mom, gets tired of working her menial maid job & decides to start a crime scene clean-up career with her good-for-nothin' sister Norah (Emily Blunt) in 'Sunshine Cleaning', directed by Christine Jeffs (Sylvia). Trapped in an adulterous affair, & needing $$ to send her troubled young son to private school, Rose thinks this new job could put her in a good direction. Little does she know the deep emotional wounds this job would open for both her & her sister's haunted past. OK, I have some MAJOR issues with this movie. The only thing saving it is some superb acting from 2 of Hollywood's greatest budding talents, Adams & Blunt. They are relevant, plausible, heartbreaking & funny; whereas the film's screenplay disappoints considerably.
10 or so yrs. ago, Rose was the head cheerleader whom every girl longed to be, & every guy wanted to get it on with. Now, she's a single mom of a 7 yr. old, a housemaid, & sloppy seconds to Mac (Steve Zahn); her old flame who's married with children. Clearly, life has not gone according to plan for her. When her son Oscar (Jason Spevack) is expelled from school (for licking things), Rose takes a job as a bio-hazard crime-scene cleaner to pay for his ensuing education, & asks her sister Norah to help. Their dad (Alan Arkin) seems an obvious choice as babysitter for Oscar. But he's as unenthusiastic & unreliable as Norah. The sister's new job goes well, at first. But with each new crime scene (some of them suicides), Rose & Norah's sad past starts to creep back into their dormant minds. Can they organize their chaotic lives? Time will tell. And each sister must learn to cope their own demons if they hope to better themselves for the future.
'Sunshine Cleaning' starts out as a comedy before evolving into something fairly dark; then it ends on a quirky high note, once again. I'm all for variety. But the balance doesn't work as well, here. At the epicenter of the film is 1 major plot point that needs some discussing (SPOILER): their mom's suicide. Each one copes with it differently. At one point, Rose comforts on elderly lady whose husband had killed himself. And Norah strikes up a friendship with the daughter of a dead woman whose house she sanitized. Because they lost their mothers, I suppose she thought they'd have something in common; and deal with their pain together. Unfortunately, that storyline gets completely mishandled ...
The set-up for the Norah & that woman (Mary Lynn Rajskub) is great. But the mid-section of their 'friendship' is awkwardly handled. And the conclusion is outright awful. Rajskub's character arc is stunted (great care is given into introducing us to her, learning a secret about her, even caring about her situation ... only to have the screenplay take a dump on her). She's used only to give closure to Norah's situation. I didn't like that, at all. Another character arc that's mishandled is a store owner named Winston (Clifton Collins Jr.). I liked the guy, so does Rose, so does her son ... but he's given virtually nothing to do. WHY have his character in the script? It did not add anything to the story. If his scenes were taken out and 10 more minutes were added-in to flesh out some of the main threads, the film would have been a lot more successful.
There are also some implausibilities. I did not believe that 2 bio-hazard 'cleaners' could just walk onto crime scenes uncertified. I did not believe the scene in which Rose leaves her son off with Winston & goes to one of her old girlfriends' baby showers. I didn't even buy the weird relationship btwn. Rose, Norah & their father. It all felt forced; not whimsical or sweet. On top of it all, too many subplots were left dangling with little-to-no closure or clarification. The acting is more than stellar. Steve Zahn is always good. The child actor is impressive. And both Adams & Blunt really do give great comedic AND dramatic performances; it's all in their eyes (the joy & the pain). 'Sunshine Cleaning' could have projected a solid, deeply affecting portrait of how people deal with bettering their stagnant lives, but it falls short. If you're to see it, enjoy the acting; it's one of the only bright spots.
10 or so yrs. ago, Rose was the head cheerleader whom every girl longed to be, & every guy wanted to get it on with. Now, she's a single mom of a 7 yr. old, a housemaid, & sloppy seconds to Mac (Steve Zahn); her old flame who's married with children. Clearly, life has not gone according to plan for her. When her son Oscar (Jason Spevack) is expelled from school (for licking things), Rose takes a job as a bio-hazard crime-scene cleaner to pay for his ensuing education, & asks her sister Norah to help. Their dad (Alan Arkin) seems an obvious choice as babysitter for Oscar. But he's as unenthusiastic & unreliable as Norah. The sister's new job goes well, at first. But with each new crime scene (some of them suicides), Rose & Norah's sad past starts to creep back into their dormant minds. Can they organize their chaotic lives? Time will tell. And each sister must learn to cope their own demons if they hope to better themselves for the future.
'Sunshine Cleaning' starts out as a comedy before evolving into something fairly dark; then it ends on a quirky high note, once again. I'm all for variety. But the balance doesn't work as well, here. At the epicenter of the film is 1 major plot point that needs some discussing (SPOILER): their mom's suicide. Each one copes with it differently. At one point, Rose comforts on elderly lady whose husband had killed himself. And Norah strikes up a friendship with the daughter of a dead woman whose house she sanitized. Because they lost their mothers, I suppose she thought they'd have something in common; and deal with their pain together. Unfortunately, that storyline gets completely mishandled ...
The set-up for the Norah & that woman (Mary Lynn Rajskub) is great. But the mid-section of their 'friendship' is awkwardly handled. And the conclusion is outright awful. Rajskub's character arc is stunted (great care is given into introducing us to her, learning a secret about her, even caring about her situation ... only to have the screenplay take a dump on her). She's used only to give closure to Norah's situation. I didn't like that, at all. Another character arc that's mishandled is a store owner named Winston (Clifton Collins Jr.). I liked the guy, so does Rose, so does her son ... but he's given virtually nothing to do. WHY have his character in the script? It did not add anything to the story. If his scenes were taken out and 10 more minutes were added-in to flesh out some of the main threads, the film would have been a lot more successful.
There are also some implausibilities. I did not believe that 2 bio-hazard 'cleaners' could just walk onto crime scenes uncertified. I did not believe the scene in which Rose leaves her son off with Winston & goes to one of her old girlfriends' baby showers. I didn't even buy the weird relationship btwn. Rose, Norah & their father. It all felt forced; not whimsical or sweet. On top of it all, too many subplots were left dangling with little-to-no closure or clarification. The acting is more than stellar. Steve Zahn is always good. The child actor is impressive. And both Adams & Blunt really do give great comedic AND dramatic performances; it's all in their eyes (the joy & the pain). 'Sunshine Cleaning' could have projected a solid, deeply affecting portrait of how people deal with bettering their stagnant lives, but it falls short. If you're to see it, enjoy the acting; it's one of the only bright spots.