Jason KingSunshine Cleaning ($13-)
June 4th 2009 11:07
:
Great Film
Category: No Category
Sunshine Cleaning ($13-)
This one is a tough one to review as it's the second film from the producers of Little Miss Sunshine - the smash hit of last year that had me crying with laughter. I just fell in love with that film.
From the producers of LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE comes the charming Sundance hit SUNSHINE CLEANING, a spirited comedy-drama starring Amy Adams (DOUBT, ENCHANTED) as single-mom Rose Lorkowski, a plucky ex-cheerleader now cleaning houses and having an affair with her high-school sweetheart, Mac (Steve Zahn). When Mac, a police detective, suggests the lucrative job opportunities in crime-scene cleanup, Rose enlists her sister, Norah (Emily Blunt), to join her in the gory but ultimately fulfilling business enterprise. The sisterly chemistry between Adams and Blunt is impressive and forms the crux of their characters' growth throughout the film: Rose'soptimism--reciting self-affirmations and positive spins on her occupation ("it's a growth industry") - complements Norah's cynical, wickedly humorous exterior, which hides her bruised, vulnerable heart. Rounding out this likable cast is Alan Arkin, appearing as Joe, the sisters' lovably grumpy father, and Jason Spevack, who plays Rose's eight-year-old son, Oscar.
Big Beach Films Producers Peter Saraf, Marc Turtletaub, Glenn Williamson and Jeb Brody brought us Little Miss Sunshine and turned themselves into A list cinematic heroes - they truly showed us an Indie film that went to the next level and crossed into mainstream success. Saraf had heard a radio program talking about the new growth industry of biohazard removal and thought this would make for a great film. He, however pictured it as a crime story or a thriller. At a similar time Glenn Williamson was serving on a board of a film festival, where he wasn't expecting to find any great scripts. Along comes first time screenwriter, Megan Holley, and her quirky sense of humor and things look much better for Williamson. Surprise surprise, he fell in love with this script and thought it perfect for Saraf and Turtletaub. Oddly enough the boy in the film is called Oscar (scripted) as is Saraf's own son, in Little Miss Sunshine the title character is named Olive (scripted) which is the name of Saraf's daughter. When Turtletaub read the script he stated that from now on they would only make films with Sunshine in the title and Saraf's kid's names in the script.
The team then setted on Christine Jeff's after Williamson had worked with her on Plath - the Sylvia Plath film starring Gwynneth Paltrow. So, this is a New Zealand directed film people, very cool. She is getting good - it maybe time for Australia to claim her
Sorry about my blabbing about the production - I just found it so interesting. Let's talk about the film and cast instead. The film is a beautiful, sad, drama, comedy, quirky piece of work. I thought it was much more drama that LMS (Little Miss Sunshine) and seriously Amy Adams spends more than half the film with tears in her eyes. It is great drama, dealing with a character who was popular in school and then did not really make it out of the cheerleading into the big bad world. This was my problem, absolutely drop dead gorgeous at school and now just dreaming of my cheerleading days. It has comedy, dry comedy you will appreciate due to the circumstance. It's comedy I love but I thought it was lacking from the bar they set in LMS. It was too drama and needed more comedy. It is quirky, nearly every character has a level of insanity and is too quirky. A lot of critics in the US have panned it because it is too quirky with no normal people. I say to you US critics "What is normal?" - nothing that any one person could pindown that is for sure. In real life we are all slightly insane in our own way, my mum has cleaning OCD, she can't be in a kitchen without a tea towel or sponge in her hand (when she is at my place I just lock her in there - it gets everything spotless ) I cannot be in the same room with chocolate or I seriously eat every piece of it. We all have our own nutiness and I think the script and the direction definately show this succesfully.
The acting is sensational and the film is worth it for all of them. There is not one bad piece of acting in this film. I will start with Alan Arkin who won a gold statue for LMS, he is great in this role but to be honest I thought his character wasn't even needed. It was like they added him to the completed script just to have him in this film. That being said he does have some of the funniest parts in the film. Then Jason Spevack, the slightly insane (by circumstance) young son, this kid is so young and has already completed 28 listed (IMDB) acting gigs His most memorable roles so far are Fever Pitch and Hollywoodland. He is a little angel that could get away with murder and holds his own better than most working with this talentend cast. I want to buy a kid just like him - damn you Ebay with all your laws.
Emily Blunt and Amy Adams are just sensational and I could acutally believe they are sisters in real life, apparently they were inseperable during filming and this shows in their performance. Amy's serious depression with life while taking everything in her stride is the perfect complinent to Emily's go with the flow care free life choices. These two are both chamelions and will do so much more in this industry that I cannot wait to see.
The things that let this film down for me were;
1) Amy Adams' character (Rose) has made so many wrong choices in her life and one she continues for half the movie - this is one that has led her to where she is and to be frank I blame her for it - stop being depressed as I could not feel empathy with you on this one - I cannot reveal as I want you to see it without my telling you in advance.
2) There is limited closure in the film, it has the sweet wrapping paper ending but it's not enough for me and I wanted to know if something would happen with the one armed guy. Or was this a good thing showing that Rose could now have male friends without sleeping with them. Although she uses him for her benefit in the film they become friends and it is nice to see a male there for her son.
3) This is my biggest let down of the film. This film would always be compared to Little Miss Sunshine and they set the bar really high with their first succesful film. This film needed to get there. LMS is a similar story but at the end it has an explosive turn of events that has everyone crying with laughter and joy. This film does not have that so it only gets to 80% of LMS in its enjoyment.
The film is well worth it for a great drama that you can take the whole family to. The acting is sensational but it only reaches 80% of the WOW factor that Little Miss Sunshine does. It releases in Australia on 11th June (the day before my birthday so start saving for presents Worth $13-
This one is a tough one to review as it's the second film from the producers of Little Miss Sunshine - the smash hit of last year that had me crying with laughter. I just fell in love with that film.
Sunshine Cleaning
From the producers of LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE comes the charming Sundance hit SUNSHINE CLEANING, a spirited comedy-drama starring Amy Adams (DOUBT, ENCHANTED) as single-mom Rose Lorkowski, a plucky ex-cheerleader now cleaning houses and having an affair with her high-school sweetheart, Mac (Steve Zahn). When Mac, a police detective, suggests the lucrative job opportunities in crime-scene cleanup, Rose enlists her sister, Norah (Emily Blunt), to join her in the gory but ultimately fulfilling business enterprise. The sisterly chemistry between Adams and Blunt is impressive and forms the crux of their characters' growth throughout the film: Rose'soptimism--reciting self-affirmations and positive spins on her occupation ("it's a growth industry") - complements Norah's cynical, wickedly humorous exterior, which hides her bruised, vulnerable heart. Rounding out this likable cast is Alan Arkin, appearing as Joe, the sisters' lovably grumpy father, and Jason Spevack, who plays Rose's eight-year-old son, Oscar.
Sunshine Cleaning
Big Beach Films Producers Peter Saraf, Marc Turtletaub, Glenn Williamson and Jeb Brody brought us Little Miss Sunshine and turned themselves into A list cinematic heroes - they truly showed us an Indie film that went to the next level and crossed into mainstream success. Saraf had heard a radio program talking about the new growth industry of biohazard removal and thought this would make for a great film. He, however pictured it as a crime story or a thriller. At a similar time Glenn Williamson was serving on a board of a film festival, where he wasn't expecting to find any great scripts. Along comes first time screenwriter, Megan Holley, and her quirky sense of humor and things look much better for Williamson. Surprise surprise, he fell in love with this script and thought it perfect for Saraf and Turtletaub. Oddly enough the boy in the film is called Oscar (scripted) as is Saraf's own son, in Little Miss Sunshine the title character is named Olive (scripted) which is the name of Saraf's daughter. When Turtletaub read the script he stated that from now on they would only make films with Sunshine in the title and Saraf's kid's names in the script.
Amy Adams, Emily Blunt and Jason Spevack
The team then setted on Christine Jeff's after Williamson had worked with her on Plath - the Sylvia Plath film starring Gwynneth Paltrow. So, this is a New Zealand directed film people, very cool. She is getting good - it maybe time for Australia to claim her
Amy Adams Sunshine Cleaning
Sorry about my blabbing about the production - I just found it so interesting. Let's talk about the film and cast instead. The film is a beautiful, sad, drama, comedy, quirky piece of work. I thought it was much more drama that LMS (Little Miss Sunshine) and seriously Amy Adams spends more than half the film with tears in her eyes. It is great drama, dealing with a character who was popular in school and then did not really make it out of the cheerleading into the big bad world. This was my problem, absolutely drop dead gorgeous at school and now just dreaming of my cheerleading days
. It has comedy, dry comedy you will appreciate due to the circumstance. It's comedy I love but I thought it was lacking from the bar they set in LMS. It was too drama and needed more comedy. It is quirky, nearly every character has a level of insanity and is too quirky. A lot of critics in the US have panned it because it is too quirky with no normal people. I say to you US critics "What is normal?" - nothing that any one person could pindown that is for sure. In real life we are all slightly insane in our own way, my mum has cleaning OCD, she can't be in a kitchen without a tea towel or sponge in her hand (when she is at my place I just lock her in there - it gets everything spotless ) I cannot be in the same room with chocolate or I seriously eat every piece of it. We all have our own nutiness and I think the script and the direction definately show this succesfully.
Amy Adams & Emily Blunt in Sunshine Cleaning
The acting is sensational and the film is worth it for all of them. There is not one bad piece of acting in this film. I will start with Alan Arkin who won a gold statue for LMS, he is great in this role but to be honest I thought his character wasn't even needed. It was like they added him to the completed script just to have him in this film. That being said he does have some of the funniest parts in the film. Then Jason Spevack, the slightly insane (by circumstance) young son, this kid is so young and has already completed 28 listed (IMDB) acting gigs His most memorable roles so far are Fever Pitch and Hollywoodland. He is a little angel that could get away with murder and holds his own better than most working with this talentend cast. I want to buy a kid just like him - damn you Ebay with all your laws.
Emily Blunt in Sunshine Cleaning
Emily Blunt and Amy Adams are just sensational and I could acutally believe they are sisters in real life, apparently they were inseperable during filming and this shows in their performance. Amy's serious depression with life while taking everything in her stride is the perfect complinent to Emily's go with the flow care free life choices. These two are both chamelions and will do so much more in this industry that I cannot wait to see.
Sunshine Cleaning
The things that let this film down for me were;
1) Amy Adams' character (Rose) has made so many wrong choices in her life and one she continues for half the movie - this is one that has led her to where she is and to be frank I blame her for it - stop being depressed as I could not feel empathy with you on this one - I cannot reveal as I want you to see it without my telling you in advance.
2) There is limited closure in the film, it has the sweet wrapping paper ending but it's not enough for me and I wanted to know if something would happen with the one armed guy. Or was this a good thing showing that Rose could now have male friends without sleeping with them. Although she uses him for her benefit in the film they become friends and it is nice to see a male there for her son.
3) This is my biggest let down of the film. This film would always be compared to Little Miss Sunshine and they set the bar really high with their first succesful film. This film needed to get there. LMS is a similar story but at the end it has an explosive turn of events that has everyone crying with laughter and joy. This film does not have that so it only gets to 80% of LMS in its enjoyment.
The film is well worth it for a great drama that you can take the whole family to. The acting is sensational but it only reaches 80% of the WOW factor that Little Miss Sunshine does. It releases in Australia on 11th June (the day before my birthday so start saving for presents
Worth $13-| 94 |
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I really want to see this one, I'm looking forward to it,
Tracy
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Michelle - I might have to suss out this Buck Howard film - I never even heard of it. I think her talent is on the fast track to superstardom - she just needs that breakaway film.
Thanks for the comments ladies!
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Cheers!
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I loved 'Little Miss Sunshine' and also enjoyed 'Sunshine Cleaning'.
I found this a bit darker than LMS but equally satisfying in the mix of comedy and drama. Maybe it was all the blood and death scenes.
Fantastic review also!
Cheers!
P.S. Fellow Gemini, your birthday is two days after mine. Happy very belated birthday wishes to you
Comment by Jason King
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Glad you enjoyed Sunshine Cleaning - I enjoyed it just missed tha spark factor from the end of Little Miss....
Take care!