"It was sorta a do-it-yourself thing?"
Life hasn't turned out the way Rose Lorkowski (Adams) expected. To make ends meet and support her young son, Oscar (Spevack), she cleans the homes of wealthy former classmates and has secret rendezvouses with her high school sweetheart and Oscar's father, Mac (Zahn), who married someone else. When Oscar gets kicked out of another school for his behavior, Rose wants to send him to a private school to give him a challenge... but she can't afford the school. Mac, who is a police detective, suggests transitioning to crime scene cleanup to make a little more money.
Rose recruits her unreliable and unemployed sister, Norah (Blunt) and they dive into the world of cleaning and disposing of blood. But this new career awakens old memories about the first dead bodies the girls saw, and cleaned up after. With a little help from the owner of the local clean-up/bio-hazard store, Winston (Collins), the sisters learn the rules and tricks of the trade. And their father, Joe (Arkin), teaches Oscar life lessons.
I had very high expectations for this film... It was made by the producers of "Little Miss Sunshine" (which I love), the cast is great (love Amy Adams), and the premise is interesting. It was good, but it wasn't great.
Things that work: the cast. Amy Adams gives Rose the right amount of optimism and desperation. And Emily Blunt is convincing as her sister, and an American... you definitely cheer for both women. Returning to the type of role that won him an Oscar for LMS (Little Miss Sunshine), Alan Arkin delivers as the eccentric grandpa with a plan that no one besides his grandchild understands / appreciates. The character that stands out the most is Clifton Collins Jr's Winston, the one-armed store owner who helps the sisters. He isn't on screen much, but his character is memorably sweet and helpful.
Things that don't work: the subplots. One has Norah trying to locate the daughter of the first home they clean, to return old school photos. But instead of telling the woman, Lynn (Rajskub), they end of forming this awkward friendship that drags on too long. The other subplot involves the underlying family tension (which I won't discuss because it gives away too much plot)... it is presented abruptly and never really resolved.
It is an interesting and enjoyable film, but don't go expecting to see the next LMS... the laughs are few and far between. There is so much potential here, but it just never pans out. Good, but not awesome.
Sunshine Cleaning (2008) 91 minutes
Rating: R for language, disturbing images, some sexuality and drug use.
Director: Christine Jeffs
Starring: Amy Adams as Rose Lorkowski
Emily Blunt as Norah Lorkowski
Alan Arkin as Joe Lorkowski
Jason Spevack as Oscar Lorkowski
Steve Zahn as Mac
Mary Lynn Rajskub as Lynn
Clifton Collins Jr. as Winston
Rose recruits her unreliable and unemployed sister, Norah (Blunt) and they dive into the world of cleaning and disposing of blood. But this new career awakens old memories about the first dead bodies the girls saw, and cleaned up after. With a little help from the owner of the local clean-up/bio-hazard store, Winston (Collins), the sisters learn the rules and tricks of the trade. And their father, Joe (Arkin), teaches Oscar life lessons.
I had very high expectations for this film... It was made by the producers of "Little Miss Sunshine" (which I love), the cast is great (love Amy Adams), and the premise is interesting. It was good, but it wasn't great.
Things that work: the cast. Amy Adams gives Rose the right amount of optimism and desperation. And Emily Blunt is convincing as her sister, and an American... you definitely cheer for both women. Returning to the type of role that won him an Oscar for LMS (Little Miss Sunshine), Alan Arkin delivers as the eccentric grandpa with a plan that no one besides his grandchild understands / appreciates. The character that stands out the most is Clifton Collins Jr's Winston, the one-armed store owner who helps the sisters. He isn't on screen much, but his character is memorably sweet and helpful.
Things that don't work: the subplots. One has Norah trying to locate the daughter of the first home they clean, to return old school photos. But instead of telling the woman, Lynn (Rajskub), they end of forming this awkward friendship that drags on too long. The other subplot involves the underlying family tension (which I won't discuss because it gives away too much plot)... it is presented abruptly and never really resolved.
It is an interesting and enjoyable film, but don't go expecting to see the next LMS... the laughs are few and far between. There is so much potential here, but it just never pans out. Good, but not awesome.
Sunshine Cleaning (2008) 91 minutes
Rating: R for language, disturbing images, some sexuality and drug use.
Director: Christine Jeffs
Starring: Amy Adams as Rose Lorkowski
Emily Blunt as Norah Lorkowski
Alan Arkin as Joe Lorkowski
Jason Spevack as Oscar Lorkowski
Steve Zahn as Mac
Mary Lynn Rajskub as Lynn
Clifton Collins Jr. as Winston
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