Sunshine Cleaning [15]

I both envy and pity the filmmaker charged with casting a fictional family for a movie. As well as the usual dictates of chemistry between performers, and even just the ability of any given actor, an additional ‘look-alike factor’ must come into play. The closest the viewer comes to this fun is in critiquing the results.

And so it was I spent the down moments, which were admittedly few, in Christine Jeff’s Sunshine Cleaning. I was making my own entertainment with questions of how much screen sisters Emily Blunt and Amy Adams actually matched up or if Alan Arkin was a good pick for their Dad. I definitely wouldn’t fault the film on the underlying ability of any of these actors, though. The leads have all been thoroughly tried and tested before, and though nobody is really at their best here, it was still pleasing to watch some favourites bat the ball around a while.

The narrative was about family too, not just my side-game. Two young women in dead end jobs are encouraged to go into business as crime scene clean-up experts, washing away the blood and bodily fluids after a murder or suicide. They get to the crime scene clean-up bit before they do the expert bit, that’s for sure, and one great fumble is the key plot point that takes us from the second act to the third. It's a shame this crucial story shift hangs on what is, essentially, an accident when most of the piece is built out of relationships, interaction and a more rooted character drama. The many subplots are, almost by default, tied into romance, childhood trauma, financial worries, parental responsibility and all that soap opera stuff. There’s enough going on to maintain interest, though not so much that it seems wearing, and only a bit of it is a little implausible.

Many of director Jeffs’ choices are neither stunningly clever or shockingly bad, just surfing along on Megan Holley’s nearly-convincing screenplay. The good choices, though, do help out a lot and the cast, it probably goes without saying, have turned what could have been some really sticky spots into something much more polished.

If I’d spent the down time picking apart the various dodgy metaphors and half-baked symbols, rather than running virtual DNA checks, I might well have enjoyed the film rather less. As it was, that stuff is only really niggling me now – and is only niggling, not exactly walloping me upside the head. Sunshine Cleaning is recommended for all, I think, though particularly suited to those who won’t mind leaving the movie behind on the way out of the auditorium. Just one more sternly administered redraft of the screenplay and a but more wit on the part of the director would have elevated this to a real keeper.

I very much want to thank the Phoenix Cinema for making this review possible. This preview screening of Sunshine Cleaning was not specifically intended for press and it is only through the good will and generosity of the cinema that I was able to attend.

Brendon Connelly (Unverified), 22/06/09

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