The Red Right Hand
  www.theredrighthand.co.uk





SUNSHINE CLEANING
Life's A Messy Business

Director
Christine Jeffs

Starring
Amy Adams
Emily Blunt
Alan Arkin

Nearly a decade after the booming success and popularity of high school, head cheerleader and envy of the school, Rose [Adams], has found herself a single mother working as a maid for a house-to-house cleaning service. During one particular job she meets an old high school buddy who typically launches into a listed tirade of personal successes and gains - namely, the house, the job, the car, the money and the kid-on-the-way. Embarrassed and frustrated with the encounter (and her life in general), Rose searches out a new vocation. Through her illicit love affair with a married policeman, she is informed about the sort of money made by crime scene cleanup crews. Deciding this is the way forward, she starts her own amateur business with the help of her disenchanted, twenty-something, slacker sister, Norah [Blunt]. Over time we come to discover that both sisters witnessed the suicide of their mother and have never really found a way to cope with it; Rose bottling her feelings with motivational pep talks and Norah rebelling against authoritarian figures, labelling herself as little more than a 'fuck up'. But eventually, the cleaning service evolves into a vehicle for Rose to take pride in her work (and by extension her life choices) and for Norah to deal with her pain and feelings of inadequacy.

Set in New Mexico, this is very much a middle-America character-based piece about finding oneself frustrated and trapped in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do and less to show for it. As such, the characters truly drive this film. I enjoy film as a medium for escapism but for some reason, I like watching people's lives. I realise that may sound odd but if you have characters that are compelling enough, they could sit there and read the phonebook and the film would still work beautifully. Such is the case here, our characters aren't exactly the most original and the writing is far from what we have come to expect from this indie sub-genre but thanks to the acting, the entire duration of the movie becomes surprisingly compelling.

On the negative side, the film tends to shift rapidly from comedy-to-drama with stuttered, uneasy transitions and the end isn't exactly abrupt but does feel somewhat unfinished; largely concerning Norah. Then there's also the neat, predictable scenarios that work themselves to resolve a little too smoothly; even the tense emotional build-ups that are meant to end on a sour note still play out with little incident. Then, of course, there's the nature of the film to consider. Being a film critic I've become largely desensitised to sex, violence and foul language but it has to be mentioned that the state/condition of some of the crime scenes could be a little off-putting for some and the language a little steep. Personally I saw no harm in this and it only served as an element of reality but in a film broadcasting an upbeat spin and a positive message the bleaker, more introspective elements do feel a little awkward.

Unofficially considered the second bastard child to crawl from the Little Miss Sunshine womb - the first being Juno - SunshineCleaning manages to retain the quirky family elements that made Little Miss Sunshine so enjoyable without stooping to the hollow, overly materialistic, quippy nonsense that was Juno. In truth, this film is going to get batted aside very quickly, largely owing to its controversial subject matter, use of language and the simplistically drawn conclusions - which is a damn shame as this movie has a great deal to offer.

Release Date:
26th June 2009

The Scene To Look Out For:
More a series of events than one actual scene: during Rose's slow learning curve, she receives the most advice from a one-armed, model-making, cleaning salesman called Winston [Clifton Collins Jr.]. Unfortunately, his character is a little flat and without substance and as such has a heart of gold and the patience of a saint. I hated him. I didn't like his character simply because he was ever-forgiving and ever-ready to offer some sage wisdom in the form of dismissible favours. The fact that he agreed to look after Rose's son (who is, for the most part, a stranger) for what seemed to be nine hours just annoyed me somewhat... and as such I felt the need to highlight it.

Notable Characters:
As stated, the two lead females are really the only reason to see this film but one actress seems to shine more than the other and not because of acting skill or talent but simply character drive. The thing that irritated me was Rose's motivation. It seemed the only reason she did anything was to relive her glory days and ensure people thought highly of her. Not exactly a damnable attitude to have but not the healthiest either. I don't know, for some strange reason I just didn't care as greatly as I should and felt that Norah's anguish and drive to 'do the right thing' was much more compelling. In that respect Emily Blunt stole the entire film.

Highlighted Quote:
"I don't need you to take care of me anymore. It's not your job.. it never was"

In A Few Words:
"Outside of the lead performances, this film has little to offer but thanks to two very talented female actresses it still manages to entertain throughout"

Total Score:
6/10


Matthew Stogdon