Movie Notes: Sunshine Cleaning
= 3 stars
Starring Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin
Directed by Christine Jeffs
Synopsis
Sisters Rose (Amy Adams) and Norah (Emily Blunt) start a crime-scene clean-up service, with mixed results.
The Good
- Adams and Blunt do the best they can with the so-so material; sympathy for both muddled characters eventually feels earned. I wasn’t that impressed with Blunt in The Jane Austen Book Club but she’s better here, as a looser, organic alterna-grump. Adams proves amusing even while lugging cleaning supplies and stabbing at blood stains with a toothbrush, but after so many great roles (Enchanted, Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, Doubt) I’m pathetically unobjective — yes, even after Leap Year.
- Interesting premise; the unpleasantness of crime-scene clean was featured in the Studs Terkel book Gig, and the plight of the unseen, overworked, and underpaid certainly deserves more screen time during these ongoing, difficult economic times.
- The light amusement of Rose and Norah’s incompetence soon gives way to a relatively deeper story of past pain, and explains the bond between the sisters. It’s explained in an unusual, touching manner, personally evoking Waitress and Twin Peaks.
The Bad
- Plot is the biggest failing; too many half-baked ideas with no hope of resolution: a neglected son, a one-armed man who builds model airplanes, a dad with too many bad business ideas, a potential lesbian romance, and an affair.
- Confusing tone caught between comedy and drama.
Conclusion
Passable rental, largely because Adams and Blunt manage to cut through the depressing subject matter and lukewarm story. I’d love a movie version of Nickel And Dimed, starring one or the other.
IMDB: Sunshine Cleaning
Wikipedia: Sunshine Cleaning
Rotten Tomatoes: Sunshine Cleaning 72%