Sunshine Cleaning

Sunshine Cleaning was blatantly advertised as a replica of Little Miss Sunshine. They use "From the Producers of LMS" and I believe the theme song from the film. But I find Sunshine Cleaning extremely different - more dramatic, less family-based quirky comedy - and that makes it that much better.

According to Roger Ebert, Sunshine Cleaning

But not this film that compromises on everything it implies, because it wants to be cheerful about people who don't have much to be cheerful about. How can you make a feel-good movie about murder-scene clean-ups?

Who said it was a film that wanted to be cheerful about people who have nothing to be happy about? Did the director say that? Because I missed it. Roger, where is your explanation of this? Perhaps you felt that it was the comedy that drove its desire to be "cheerful," and I understand that. However, it is wrong to suggest this because the film decreases the "cheerful" material throughout. Thus, it becomes less comedic and more dramatic, a technique that I felt worked to its benefit.

Todd McCarthy at Variety makes a valid point in Alan Arkin's performance:

Arkin does nearly the identical blunt-talking, lovably cranky shtick he performed to such effect in "Little Miss Sunshine," as he tries to instruct young Oscar in the ways of the mercantile world.

Arkin's performance not only was identical to his in LMS but it was also less-effective. It seemed that he came in as a fill-in for a plot that didn't focus on the two protagonists. We see glimpses of him tackling a small business plan for selling shrimp and yelling out snarky lines toward his daughters. These instances pop up very rarely and are insignificant to the overall story.

The problem that this film presents is through its advertising. Because it is promoted as "another" Little Miss Sunshine, audiences go in expecting a cute little girl and a dark comedy about a quirky family and their inability to get along. And this is where I feel Sunshine Cleaning succeeds. It differentiates itself from LMS by placing more drama in the story and deteriorating the comedy as it goes along. Because, of course, the plot becomes more dramatic as the sisters battle the tough business in which they seemingly progress at the start.

Where critics state the film lacks in its comedy and therefore lacks in its power, I argue that the film is enhanced by this lack of comedy. Had the film not been advertised as a mirror image of LMS it would have succeeded in its reviews. However, I seem to be one of the few that praise the film for its dramatic content and power.

The performances in this film are astonishingly perfect. Emily Blunt and Amy Adams are unbelievable as sisters, biting at each other with quick dialogue and simple body language. The love-hate relationship between the sisters was incredibly strong and kept the film in tact. I also enjoyed the performance of Clifton Collins Jr., a who plays Winston, a one-armed hardware store clerk.

Sometimes, Mr. Ebert, I whole-heartedly agree with your reviews (The Fall, for example, was given an immense amount of praise from myself and you), but this time you just don't seem to get it. Sunshine Cleaning is an effective comedy/drama with two strong female characters and a story that intertwines every small detail in an effect, full-circle manner. You won't get as much comedy as is advertised, and that's why you will enjoy it more.