Sunshine Cleaning

Sunshine Cleaning (2009)

OK, so the makers of this film decided to put Sunshine in the title. And cast Alan Arkin as a kooky old man. A kooky old man who has a poignant relationship with a child. As I was watching it, I couldn't quite believe it. The choice to be so clearly derivative of a better and widely-seen movie (Little Miss Sunshine just in case you didn't get the references) was unfortunate for a movie with many minor charms of its own.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy the movie on the whole, and it's mainly because of the lovely performance of Amy Adams. Does anyone play inherently good characters as well as her, as we've seen in Enchanted, Doubt, and Junebug (if you have not seen Junebug, Netflix it NOW. One of my favorite movies of recent years). Amy Adams plays a single mom working as a cleaner who is led into the crime-scene and hazardous materials business by her married cop boyfriend. She partners with her also troubled sister (the also enjoyable Emily Blunt), and the business begins. While the movie was marketed as a comedy, it's really more of a drama with some comedic parts. There are definitely some lovely moments along the way in this film, but it is definitely inconsistent. To sum it up, I'd say I enjoyed it, it was worth a rental, but I'm glad I didn't pay money to see it in the theater.

Grade: C+