From Pasto, Colombia-Via: L. A. CA, CALI COLOMBIA &ORLANDO, FL
There is quite a lot going on in this film with quite a surprising number of cinematic names that really resonate!
But Before beginning my DEEP DIVE...FIRST, Let us FOCUS on the Titles's Content and Context.....
GREAT TITLE! ...BUT Cinema that provokes a strong reaction from me, for good or for bad, is easier to review. "Movies in the Middle", like "SUNSHINE", always present much more of a challenge. "From the same people who brought you 'Little Miss Sunshine'..." This phrase was used a lot in the SUNSHINE PROMOs. Maybe it got in the way of me getting more out of the film. It didn't set very well with me that...
A) Both titles employ the word "SUNSHINE".
B) Alan Arkin basically does a warmed over version of his role in "LITTLE MISS"
C) Both films are about dysfunctional families with a precocious Kid!
Taken as a whole, it just seemed too obvious that "The same people who brought you..." wanted desperately to cash in, AGAIN, and SUNSHINE(2???) is just a vehicle for doing so!
Still, it does have ingratiating qualities. If you can tolerate the slow as molasses initial 30 minutes...(OK-Wait, make that as DELIBERATE as Molasses!), you'll probably feel it was worth your while, a pretty good little indie film, which could easily have been a LOT better.
Catharsis, healing, coping, forgiveness and moving on, are some of the operative buzz-words for "Sunshine Cleaning". Perhaps just a tad too dreary for such a cheery title? "Sunshine" would have benefited from the injection of just a little more comic relief in the mix. The acting fell a little short of expectation. With Amy Adams (Junebug/Doubt) and Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada) perhaps my expectations were too high! Something was missing. The script was spotty and rather lackluster at times.
The on-screen chemistry was variable. Often, Alan Arkin's presence seemed to be a hindrance to the flow and balance of the scene and the story. SUNSHINE did have a very down-to-earth, realistic feel to it. The problems, reactions to them, and solutions encountered, or not, as the case may be, were believable and mundane; stuff that we all can relate too. Immediately after viewing, I had settled on a 6 Star rating, thinking "Sunshine" was going to be sans ricocheting...But, there has been some of that going on in that 'ID' of mine, hours after viewing. So, we'll up it 7 Stars!
..... ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!
Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en Español, are most welcome!
