After leading a glamorous life in high school as captain of the cheerleading team and girlfriend of a popular quarterback, Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams) now finds herself a single mother living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who must scrub floors and wash windows of wealthy families to support her family.
Her eccentric widower father (Alan Arkin), who jumps from one get-rich scheme to another, can offer nothing in the way of financial support. One day while working at a new assignment, she finds that the housewife for whom she works was a former cheerleader on Rose’s squad. Happy, married, wealthy, and pregnant, this woman seems to possess everything that Rose lacks.
The Origin of Sunshine Cleaning
Through her policeman lover (Steve Zahn), Rose hears that crime-scene cleanup provides quick cash. She enlists the help of her unmotivated sister Norah (Emily Blunt), gathers some buckets and sponges, and begins her new career. Too late she learns that strict laws govern the removal of bio-hazardous waste materials found at crime scenes.
With the help of a friendly cleaning supplies store owner (Clifton Collins, Jr.), Rose and Norah start to attract more business and provide important services in the aftermath of tragedy. Soon she finds that instead of lying to people about someday becoming a real estate agent, she can proudly tell the truth about her professional role and the function that she serves to people in need.
Subplots in Sunshine Cleaning
Although the main story in Sunshine Cleaning concerns Rose and her cleaning service, many smaller subplots bubble up to the surface like the soap in one of her buckets. In addition, the cleaning service becomes a metaphor for cleaning out the cobwebs and clearing up the misconceptions inside the minds of Rose and Norah concerning their mother and their own strained relationship.
Rose also comes to view her relationship with the policeman in a different light, and Norah explores some of her own deeply felt issues that impede her success. Other people (a lonely woman, a cleaning competitor, a jealous wife, etc.) drift in and out of the story, serving as comparisons and contracts for the two central characters.
The Stars Shine in Sunshine Cleaning
Amy Adams (Doubt, Enchanted, Talladega Nights) portrays Rose with just the right amount of strength and vulnerability to make her believable. It’s hard to imagine someone so perky, cute, and intelligent having trouble finding a husband or a steady job, but somehow Adams manages to pull it off.
As Rose’s troubled younger sister, Emily Blunt (The Great Buck Howard, Dan in Real Life, The Devil Wears Prada) succeeds in depicting how the severe dysfunction hides just beneath her slacker surface. Appearing to care about nothing, Norah actually cares about some things very much.
Overall, the acting is exceptional in this quirky little independent film. The entertaining story swirls around alternating themes of violence, tragedy, death, comedy, love, and birth. In addition, the familiar faces onscreen and lively soundtrack make this small film about death feel like a big movie about life.
- Sunshine Cleaning
- Desperate for money, a single mother and her sister start a cleaning service for crime scenes.
- Starring Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin, Steve Zahn, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Clifton Collins, Jr.
- Director: Christine Jeffs
- Run Time: 102 minutes
- Rating: R (for language, disturbing images, some sexuality and drug use)
For more information about Sunshine Cleaning, visit the official website. For box office in information, read Sunshine Cleaning Performs at Box Office.
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