08/19/2009
A decent indie drama starring two of today’s best actresses.
Amy Adams and Emily Blunt are two of the best and most appealing actresses in Hollywood today, and the mostly decent Sunshine Cleaning is a good vehicle for their talents. With a superb supporting cast and an interesting central conceit, SC is entertaining and well made without being particularly memorable.
Rose Lorkowski (Adams) is a single mom who is facing hard times: the one-time high school darling (and head of the cheerleading squad) now struggles in a low paying job as a contract house cleaner, trying to provide for her bright but odd son Oscar (Jason Spevack). A police detective (Steve Zahn) suggests to Rose that she get into the lucrative (if gory) profession of crime-scene cleanup. Desperate to get Oscar out of the regular school system, Rose recruits her directionless sister Norah (Blunt), and the two enter into this grisly field without really knowing the whys and wherefores, cheered on by their eccentric father (Arkin) who always has a get-rich-quick scheme to hand.
Sunshine Cleaning is heartfelt and beautifully acted, but it must be said that the script by Megan Holley (who won a regional screenwriting competition that was being judged by producer Glenn Williamson) often seems a little self-consciously “quirky” and “indie.” Certainly many aspects of the plot – which would be neatly tied up in a more “Hollywood” script – are left jagged and unresolved, as they probably would be in real life. But some tidbits seem overly contrived, such as Oscar believing he talk to people in heaven, and a shared obsession the sisters have with a moment in their dead mother’s life (about which more cannot be said without spoilerage). Still, the crime scene cleanup idea feels fresh and interesting, the family machinations are generally well played, and the story has a pleasing progression that is engaging, if not exactly enthralling. In some regards it seems like we’ve seen a lot of these kinds of dynamics in many other films, but the cast, and director Christine Jeffs, make it work.
Speaking of the cast, they all turn in outstanding work, even when occasionally hobbled by the writer’s inexperience. Blunt’s character, in particular, seems like a standard issue tattooed slacker, full of potential but unfocused, etc., etc. Blunt manages to make the character three-dimensional, but she’s not given much help by what’s on the page. Ditto for Alan Arkin, who makes it believable that this dotty dad really believes his ridiculous schemes will pay off.
The character of Rose is somewhat more fleshed out, and Adams lends a gentle weight to this almost-broken woman who makes bad choices but still maintains a central core of dignity. As always, Adams is vastly impressive as much for what she doesn’t do as what she does – Rose could easily have been a much harsher, shrill character, but Adams (who once made a cartoon princess into a viable human being, and fairly effortlessly at that) keeps this woman grounded and believable. In smaller roles, the estimable Zahn, Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe from 24) and Clifton Collins, Jr. (as a gentle one-armed shopkeeper) all turn in sterling work.
The DVD actually gives the option to watch the film either in widescreen or full frame (what is this, 1998?), and special features are fairly slim. Rather than a standard making-of doc, the disc’s sole featurette, A Fresh Look at a Dirty Business, is a brief but interesting look at two real-life crime scene cleaners, Marie Fitzgerald and Dana Hooper, a pair of charming women who offer their insights both on their chosen profession, and how it is portrayed in the film. The Audio Commentary features writer Megan Holley and producer Glenn Williamson, and while it is reasonably informative and listenable, it is also so low-key as to be a bit soporific.
Sunshine Cleaning is exactly the sum of its parts. A few bits of cookie-cutter writing (ironic for such an aggressively “indie” film) and cute contrivances are offset by outstanding performances and lively direction. It is often funny and real, but rarely unforgettable. See it, if you see it, for Adams and Blunt, and Arkin, too. These folks are the heart and soul of this enterprise.
Location: Irving, Texas
Occupation: Freelance
Bio: JE Smith, aka Jeff S., is a forty-something guy who was born in Illinois, but has been living in the wilds of Dallas, Texas for more than twenty-five years. He has been a movie nut ever since seeing Escape from the Planet of the Apes at Steeleville Theater in 1971 and is also obsessed with Doctor Who, Ultraman, Star Trek, The X Files, Batman, Spider-Man, Doc Savage and many other pop culture icons. For fifteen years (1981 - 1996) he published the sf/horror filmzine Wet Paint, and tried his hand at self-publishing his own comics with Bulletproof (1999, 3 issues) and Complex City (2000 - 2003, 4 issues and a trade paperback), both of which bombed. He's been writing film reviews for almost thirty years and is just getting the hang of it. Married to the lovely Barbara for over 16 years, and owned by a sleepy cat named Max.
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