Amy Adams and Emily Blunt costar as underachieving Albuquerque sisters forced by economic necessity to work in an unusual job: cleaning blood-soaked crime scenes after police work is finished. Adams plays Rose, the marginally more responsible of the pair, an aspiring realtor who takes up house cleaning when the real-estate bubble bursts. Her flaky and socially awkward sister Norah (Blunt)—who can't cut it as a waitress—has a married cop (Steve Zahn) for a boyfriend, who suggests the women undertake the disgusting but highly remunerative work of the cleaning homes of murder victims. Since Sunshine Cleaning is driven more by a situation than a plot, the narrative dawdles somewhat, but director Christine Jeffs pulls off some delightful sequences, including a cringe-worthy encounter between Rose and her more well-heeled friends at a bridal shower, where she explains her job in gory detail. The strong supporting cast includes Alan Arkin as the girls' quirky, ineffectual father, and Mary Lynn Rajskub as a lonely lesbian whom Norah befriends. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by writer Megan Holley and producer Glenn Williamson, “A Fresh Look at a Dirty Business” behind-the-scenes featurette (11 min.), and trailers. The DVD version includes both widescreen and full screen versions of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for an uneven but often winning film.] (E. Hulse)
Sunshine Cleaning
Anchor Bay, 91 min., R, DVD: $29.99, Blu-ray: $39.99, Aug. 25 Volume 24, Issue 4
Sunshine Cleaning
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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