Sunshine Cleaning (Rhoades)

Will “Sunshine Cleaning” Clean Up at Box Office?

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

“CSI,” “CSI Miami,” and “CSI New York” are among today’s most popular TV shows. We love those murder mysteries with all their gory forensic details. Viewers have learned a grad student’s textbook about DNA, bullet trajectories, and blood-spatter patterns.

We love those F/X graphics that show bursting arteries, grisly knife wounds, and icky bodily fluids.

But in real life someone has to clean up the mess.

Cleaning up the mess: That’s the humorous plot of “Sunshine Cleaning,” the indie dramedy that just opened at the Tropic Cinema.

This is the story of two sisters who decide to clean up (yes, that was a deliberate pun) by getting into the “lucrative” business of crime scene clean-up. Rose (played by Amy Adams) is a thirtysomething single mom who has been supporting herself by cleaning houses. Her slacker sister Norah (Emily Blunt) reluctantly joins her in this spic-and-span enterprise. Finding a new purpose in life, as well as stirring up memories of their dearly departed mother, they bumble into this new career.

You saw Amy Adams recently in “Doubt,” a role that garnered her an Academy Award nomination. And Emily Blunt was outstanding as the sycophant assistant in “The Devil Wore Prada.”

“Sunshine Cleaning” was produced by Big Beach, the same independent film company that gave us “Little Miss Sunshine.” So it’s not surprising to find Alan Arkin in this film’s cast too. After all, he picked up an Oscar last time around.

But let’s be clear: This is not another CSI clone. It’s the quirky story of those not-so-glamorous behind-the-scenes clean-up crews, in this case a couple of oddball sisters trying to clean up their own lives.

srhoades@aol.com
[from Solares Hill]