Sunshine Cleaning (Overture Pictures) has finally been released theatrically after a year in limbo since its appearance in 2008’s Sundance film festival, and most of it should have stayed there.
The film, from director Christine Jeffs, revolves around a single mother, Rose (Amy Adams, Doubt), who begins a crime scene clean-up service to try to put her son through private school. She also has a troubled relationship with her high school sweetheart, Mac (Steve Zahn, Strange Wilderness), who is married to another woman.
Not able to do the job on her own, she enlists the help of her unreliable sister, Norah (Emily Blunt, The Devil Wears Prada). While working together, the two sisters, who suffered a traumatic experience when their mom died years before, learn to bond and get over their differences.
Though the title may fool you, Sunshine Cleaning is miles away from the 2006 surprise hit Little Miss Sunshine. The studio plays up the comparison, especially since the two films are from the same producers, but there is little beyond this that connects the movies. While Little Miss Sunshine was heartfelt and original, providing an equal mix of laughs and drama, Sunshine Cleaning is bland, cliché-ridden and much darker.
Little Miss Sunshine heavily influences the script. Alan Arkin basically plays the same role in Sunshine Cleaning as the one he won an Oscar for two years ago in that film as the disgruntled grandfather, Joe. Oscar, Rose’s troubled son, is comparable to Abigail Breslin’s role in the 2006 surprise nominee for Best Picture. However, Little Miss Sunshine was a surprising and unique independent film. Sunshine Cleaning would be a Lifetime movie if it weren’t for the big names on the poster.
Sunshine Cleaning is a film carried solely by the performances of the two lead actresses. Blunt, as underrated an actress as any working today, turns in a solid performance. Though her character is written as a bit cliché, she manages to make Norah her own and prospers with little material to work with.
Blunt, however, is eclipsed by Amy Adams, who turns in one of the best performances (if not the best) of her career. The emotion Adams puts into Rose is stunning. Adams is compelling, believable and sympathetic and makes the lackluster film her own. If the rest of the movie weren’t such a mess, her performance would certainly be considered Oscar worthy.
Sunshine Cleaning could have been a great movie, but it falls short in so many areas, feeling overly familiar in every misstep. Many subplots are thrown to the wayside and unresolved by the film’s end, but they take time away from the main plot, making the film frustrating.
Norah has an odd relationship with a girl, Lynn (Mary Lynn Rajskub, Firewall) that abruptly ends and is never really cleared up. There is also an odd dynamic between Rose and Winston (Clifton Collins Jr., Capote), a man who owns the cleaning supply store she frequents. Winston helps Rose throughout, and even watches her child for her, but, by the film’s conclusion, one wonders what happened to him.
Sunshine Cleaning is a sloppy mess of a film, full of loose ends and unanswered questions. Audiences who walk out of this film will likely leave with an awkward, empty feeling. It is disappointing considering the potential of a film with such a solid cast, but nothing could make up for a lousy script and poor direction.
