Review of Sunshine State (2002) by Jonathan W — 18 May 2004

I watched the 3rd and final DVD that I rented Monday, John Sayles' Sunshine State. His 1996 movie Lone Star is my favorite of that year, and one of my faves of all time. I also liked his follow-up film Limbo, though it was not as great. Before this morning, my only other experience with his work had been in my spanish class this semester when we watched about 30 minutes of his Spanish-language film Men With Guns. What I saw was good and made me want to see the rest of it, but I haven't yet. To make a long story short (too late) he's one of my favorite directors.

This morning I saw Sunshine State, which in typical Sayles fashion, has a large enesmble cast of colorful characters and takes place in a setting with an interesting history (in this case, a small community on the Florida coast). Most of the characters are connected in some way and the film takes its time in revealing these connections. Some of my favorites were a group of elderly golfers who discuss Florida's history while playing a round, Ralph Waite's Furman Temple, an old and nearly blind man who talks about the changing times, Tom Wright's former college football star, Lee "the Florida Flash" Phillips, whose career was cut short by an injury and who's still a hero in his hometown, Angela Bassett's Desiree, who left town never to look back at age 15 when she was pregnant with the football star's baby, Mary Alice's Eunice Stokes, Desiree's mother who's still bitter than she hasn't visited over the years, Bill Cobb's Elton Lloyd, an longtime resident of the town who raises protests against developers who want to buy the locals' land and build a resort of some kind, and Edie Falco's Marly Temple, Furman's daughter who runs a small motel that's been in the family for many years, although she's tired of the business and considers selling the property to the developers.

There are many interesting characters with rich background histories, the dialogue is often captivating, and the story moves along at a brisk 140 minutes or so. It doesn't get a higher rating though largely because of a few subplots which I felt weren't entirely resolved and because the whole movie just isn't as memorable as some of Sayles' earlier work, but it's still well worth seeking out.