Sunshine Cleaning DVD Review

Sunshine Cleaning - An E1 Films Release

http://www.sunshinecleaning-themovie.com/

On DVD: August 25th, 2009

Rated 14A for disturbing content and coarse language

Running time: 91 minutes

Christine Jeffs (dir.)

Megan Holley (writer)

Michael Penn (music)

Amy Adams as Rose Lorkowski

Emily Blunt as Norah Lorkowski

Alan Arkin as Joe Lorkowski

Jason Spevack as Oscar Lorkowski

Steve Zahn as Mac

Jason Spevack, Amy Adams, Emily Blunt and Alan Arkin in Sunshine Cleaning

- An E1 Films Release

Our reviews below:

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Sunshine Cleaning DVD Review By John C.

***1/2 (out of 4)

Sunshine Cleaning is the story of two sisters, Rose and Norah Lorkowski (Amy Adams and Emily Blunt), who start their own business in the field of crime scene cleanup. Rose used to be a popular cheerleader, but now has a son and is still sleeping with her old high school boyfriend. Norah is a slacker. They get into the business of post-crime cleanup only because they need the money.

If you can get past the gore of the crime scenes, which is depicted in a few sequences, the overall film really is an uplifting and very moving experience. As the movie progresses it stops being so much about the crime scenes as it is about the two sisters reaching out to the victims of the tragedies. And through this, they are able to come to terms with something tragic that happened in their past.

The scenes between Rose’s son Oscar (Jason Spevack), and his grandpa (Alan Arkin), are very sweet. And the actors/characters are, for the most part, genuinely likable. I found it to have undertones of the excellent Is Anybody There?, and the way they start to reach out to the victims reminded me a bit of the Japanese masterpiece Departures. Although in comparison, it’s not as solid a film. Sunshine Cleaning may not be perfect, but it’s redeeming qualities far out weigh any of it’s problems. I really liked this movie a lot.

The DVD includes audio commentary featuring writer Megan Holley and producer Glenn Williamson, and the featurette “A Fresh Look at a Dirty Business”.

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Sunshine Cleaning DVD Review By Erin V.

*** (out of 4)

In Sunshine Cleaning, Rose, (Amy Adams), is a single mom who works as a maid in order to earn enough money to look after her 8 year old special needs son. When her former highschool boyfriend, who is a cop, suggests that she could make far more money cleaning up crime scenes, she reluctantly starts the new business, ‘Sunshine Cleaning’, with her younger sister, who’s also in need of work.

Due to the nature of scenes in which characters clean up crime scenes, (even though it’s after the bodies have already been removed), these scenes are quite disgusting. Despite this, the movie does have heart and the rest of the storyline is nice to watch unfold. Particularly nice are the scenes between Rose’s son, and his grandfather, who’s played by Alan Arkin.

The acting is solid throughout this ‘kind of quirky’ film. If you can get past the slightly disgusting scenes, this movie is worth watching. Luckily, it is fairly easy to gauge when those scenes are coming.

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Sunshine Cleaning DVD Review By Tony

*** (out of 4)

Review Coming Soon!

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Consensus: *** (Out of 4)