2009 Review #28: Sunshine Cleaning

Sunshine Cleaning

Rated R

(Language, disturbing images, minor sexuality and drug use)

1 hour 31 minutes

Storyline:

In order to raise the tuition to send her young son to private school, a mom starts an unusual business -- a biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service -- with her unreliable sister.

Starring:

Amy Adams

Emily Blunt

Alan Arkin

Steve Zahn

Critics Grade:

B-

My Grade:

B-

You know I was expecting a dark comedy from this movie, along the lines of the Best Picture nominee, Little Miss Sunshine. However, comedy I did not get...at least not all that much. Sunshine Cleaning had only a few funny moments, but it was the standard amount you see in any dramatic film...which is what this movie categorically falls into. So on that level I was a bit disappointed, given the premise of the film...two sisters who start a crime scene clean up business to make ends meet. But this was much more of a serious film, that bordered on depressing.

That being said, I did like this movie very much. It was by no means the best movie of 2009...not even close really. But I though the storyline was quite moving and at times charming. There seems to be a lot going on in this movie, but the core story of this family struggling to get by financially and just in life in general was well told. I liked the dynamic of this family. The cooky old dad, the oddball, eccentric daughter and the other daughter who is not really like the rest of them. She has a son that's a bit of a hyper case, and is kind of annoying. Their story though was sweet and at times quite dark. The background story of their dead mother was pretty emotional and tugged at the heart strings a little.

I enjoyed the scenes of the sisters cleaning up after dead people. That is where a lot of the humor in the film came from. There were also some very touching scenes. There is a scene where Amy Adam's comforts an old woman who's husband just killed himself. It showed that these girls weren't just there to clean up blood, they were they to help and I thought that was a nice touch to the story.

The problem I had with this movie is that there was way to much going on at time. There is a side story with Steve Zahn's (Joy Ride, Strange Wilderness)character that really just ends up falling flat. Another side story involves one of the sisters trying to connect with the daughter with one of the dead victims they cleaned up after. That story was very odd and I felt like it was just a space filler. I know that it was an attempt to humanize Emily Blunt's character but something about it was weird. The girl she was trying to connect with is a lesbian, but Blunt's character is not and that whole thing just felt strange and way out of place. Then by the end of that story arch, nothing really happens...I just didn't get it.

Then we have the story of Oscar winner Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine) trying to sell random things in grocery stores and restaurants. I guess I didn't see the importance of this aspect of his life. I guess he was trying to make time go by since he no longer had his wife...but they never really explained his odd behavior. Then we have the tale of Oscar nominee Amy Adam's (Junebug, Doubt)characters son who can't seem to fit in at school. He is a bit of a troublemaker and no one knows what to do with him. Again...this story falls flat in the end, there is no resolve. Finally there is character you think has a thing for Amy Adams and you never really know if she likes him back. Again...no real resolve there. Overall though, the story of the family as a whole was the most prominent one in the film, and was written very very well.

The performances were pretty good. I thought Emily Blunt was awesome in The Devil Wears Prada and I believe she was robbed of some award attention. Here she was dawning an American accent and did so fairly well. She was good in this movie, but there were times where her performance was a little too...fake, I guess would be the best way to describe it. Amy Adam's was definitely the best in the movie. She's always turned in solid performances and I think she will win herself an Oscar one day. There was a pretty powerful scene towards the end of the movie involving her talking on a CB radio that was her shining moment in the film. Arkin was good, but not as good as he was in Little Miss Sunshine. But I still thought he was entertaining.

All in all, this is a solid movie. It suffers from trying to do to much to make us feel sympathetic towards the characters, but it didn't need to do all that. We already feel for these characters once we learn of their past. I wish they would have focused more on that and eliminated some of the random side stories that led up to nothing. I would recommend this film though to anyone. I don't know if it's for everyone though. It's a bit of a "slow" movie, but I like those kind of flicks. It's on DVD now...check it out! What bad can it do??