Review of Sunshine Cleaning (2008) by Brenda B — 23 Jan 2010

Very nice performances as expected. Amy Adams really does the 'teary but tryin' to hold it back' moments very well. Emily Blunt and Clifton Collins Jr. were excellent given the material. And that is probably where the biggest problem lies. The movie, which I looked forward to seeing and did enjoy somewhat, seemed to have just missed the mark. It had the potential to be so much better and just ended up grazing the surface instead.

Given the macabre nature of the material it could have gone much more dark and humorous in the face of that subject matter. Instead it went down the path of "let's keep this real" and focus on the effects that tragedy plays in the development of a person. Let's show how dysfunctional these girls are after their own mother took her life. But they really only skimmed that aspect as well.

Enjoyable enough and performances were very good. Not a rewatchable movie and that alone is a disappointment.