A heartwarming story about a dysfunctional family, Sunshine Cleaning centres on a life of promise that never quite manifests. Produced by the same team that brought Little Miss Sunshine to the screen, Sunshine Cleaning is another gem of a film. It’s smaller in scope and will therefore have less appeal to a mainstream audience, but the audience it does reach will feel the joy and pain of this family’s struggles.
Amy Adams, coming off a tour-de-force Oscar-nominated performance in Doubt, anchors the film as Rose. She’s a former cheerleader and a single mother, who, to make ends meet, works as a maid for a cleaning service. Her movements set the film’s tone. The weight of a life not yet realized is in her every action. A beauty in high school, she is continuing an affair with her now married high school sweetheart. She is trying to be a good mom, daughter and sister, but there is a deep sadness in her. Rose is stuck, unable to move forward. In need of extra cash to send her son Oscar to private school, Rose starts a crime-scene-cleaning business and enlists the assistance of her sister Norah. Actress Emily Blunt gives Norah’s hard-partying screw-up weight, which lets the audience feel for the character despite her failures. The two sisters put aside their mixed feelings about each other and work together in a business venture that helps bring closure to the pain of others.
In the hands of director Christine Jeffs, the film’s heavier moments are gingerly displayed with both pain and humour. Alan Arkin provides a terrific performance as Rose’s father, Joe, bringing some much needed comic relief. Joe is a widower who brought up two young girls with only his wits and a few failed business schemes. He continues to plug along, hawking “fancy corn” at candy shops and trying to unload shrimp at bargain prices. Arkin’s gruff but playful manner consistently leads to laughs, especially in scenes between Joe and grandson Oscar.
Sunshine’s ending falls short, with too many storylines and loose ends to make a grand statement, but that is part of what makes the film memorable. The characters lead average lives, and to expect anything extraordinary would not be real for them. It’s a film based on the strength of the performances, leaving the audience a little more compassionate for the pain of those around them.
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