"Sunshine Cleaning" is the first satisfyingly on-the-whole good movie of 2009. Mainstream film, that is. The R-rating handed it is a little lame in that there are only some language moments and a few rather unrevealing sex scenes, and one of those is funny!
Amy Adams plays Rose, a woman relegated to offering housecleaning services. She has an unreliable father, a completely failed waitress for a sister and a son harboring what might be construed as anti-social behaviour. But Rose is introduced to the notion of cleaning up crime scenes. The pay sounds great. Her boyfriend Mac (Rose's married cop squeeze Steve Zahn finally delivers a darned good performance) encourages her to go for it; he even can supply tips on jobs.
We see that Rose's life and that of the people in her life is pretty complicated. Her son is a bit of a handful at school, her father is pretty reliable but seems to want to beat the system for his livelihood, her sister is completely unhooked from the mainstream and her own love life is going nowhere. Plus she is trying to be strong despite the unfortunate events occurring around her.
I prefer this type of film because it portrays flawed characters moving about in a world they are only superficially tapped into; no 8-5 stolid suburbanites figure very prominently in the plot. Those we meet are portrayed in a contemptuous manner.
The only obvious artistic filming touch in the entire movie occurs when Rose attends a baby shower. Surrounded by yuppies, she is so out of her element that she can't even fabricate a good pretext for leaving early. The entire episode is filmed in a sort-of sepia tint, highlighting the affair as if one were reviewing a scrapbook. The filmmaker does allow us a few sentimental moments throughout the movie, but never again employs this device.
The only two romantic threads in the movie are in one case resolved, in the other left open for our imagination. And this is acceptable to us because that tends to be the way life works. The film's ending is pretty much as it should be. I personally don't know how it could be improved upon.
This is one definitely worth seeing; I noticed the other attendees to the theater were few and mostly boomers. As you know, box office success is inversely proportional to the quality of the film. So you know it has to be good.
Three Stars
Amy Adams plays Rose, a woman relegated to offering housecleaning services. She has an unreliable father, a completely failed waitress for a sister and a son harboring what might be construed as anti-social behaviour. But Rose is introduced to the notion of cleaning up crime scenes. The pay sounds great. Her boyfriend Mac (Rose's married cop squeeze Steve Zahn finally delivers a darned good performance) encourages her to go for it; he even can supply tips on jobs.
We see that Rose's life and that of the people in her life is pretty complicated. Her son is a bit of a handful at school, her father is pretty reliable but seems to want to beat the system for his livelihood, her sister is completely unhooked from the mainstream and her own love life is going nowhere. Plus she is trying to be strong despite the unfortunate events occurring around her.
I prefer this type of film because it portrays flawed characters moving about in a world they are only superficially tapped into; no 8-5 stolid suburbanites figure very prominently in the plot. Those we meet are portrayed in a contemptuous manner.
The only obvious artistic filming touch in the entire movie occurs when Rose attends a baby shower. Surrounded by yuppies, she is so out of her element that she can't even fabricate a good pretext for leaving early. The entire episode is filmed in a sort-of sepia tint, highlighting the affair as if one were reviewing a scrapbook. The filmmaker does allow us a few sentimental moments throughout the movie, but never again employs this device.
The only two romantic threads in the movie are in one case resolved, in the other left open for our imagination. And this is acceptable to us because that tends to be the way life works. The film's ending is pretty much as it should be. I personally don't know how it could be improved upon.
This is one definitely worth seeing; I noticed the other attendees to the theater were few and mostly boomers. As you know, box office success is inversely proportional to the quality of the film. So you know it has to be good.
Three Stars