Sunshine Cleaning
I've been in the bag for Amy Adams a long time now, and having her headline this little indie dramedy is frankly the best thing that could have happened to it.Not that Sunshine Cleaning is a bad movie; it isn't. It's just too familiar: A single mom raising her son while dealing with fractured family relationships.
The only things that set it apart from the hundreds of other movies like it over the last 10 years are Adams and the unique new family business of cleaning up after people who have died. Of course, that becomes a metaphor for the relationship between Adams' character and her shiftless, screwup sister (Wood), whom she's been taking care of since their mother died when they were children and their eccentric father (Arkin) failed to pick up the slack.
Adams has been a delight to watch since she made her mark in Catch Me If You Can. She's the girl next door with talent--boatloads of it and charm to spare. Without her a movie like this couldn't get out of its own quirky, overly predictable way. It's hard to put a finger on, but a vibe of having seen this low-budget indie feel-good picture before permeates the whole theater. Only the particulars of the plot and the exceptional cast hold your attention. Sunshine Cleaning is a charming, tender slice-of-life drama. Sound like a familiar tagline?