Sunshine Cleaning

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  • Opened March 13, 2009 
  • 1 hr 42 min
  • R | disturbing images, some sexuality and drug use

  • Parents: Common Sense Media says Iffy for 15+. More on child suitability

  • A single mom and her slacker sister find an unexpected way to turn their lives around in the off-beat dramatic comedy Sunshine Cleaning. Directed by Christine Jeffs (Rain, Sylvia), this uplifting film about an average family that finds the path to its dreams in an unlikely setting screened in competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Once the high school cheerleading captain who dated the quarterback, Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams) now finds herself a thirty something single mother working as a maid. Her sister Norah, (Emily Blunt), is still living at home with their dad Joe (Alan Arkin), a salesman with a lifelong history of ill-fated get rich quick schemes. Desperate to get her son into a better school, Rose persuades Norah to go into the crime scene clean-up business with her to make some quick cash. In no time, the girls are up to their elbows in murders, suicides and other…specialized situations. As they climb the ranks in a dirty job, the sisters find respect for one another. Full synopsis

  • Cast: Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin, Jason Spevack, Steve Zahn
  • Director: Christine Jeffs
  • Genres: Comedy, Drama

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Critic Reviews

75
San Francisco Chronicle
| Mick LaSalle

That Sunshine Cleaning was made by women is best revealed in the filmmakers' willingness to let the story breathe on its own terms, without bringing in anything extraneous, unwelcome and exciting. Read full review

75
Philadelphia Inquirer
| Carrie Rickey

Kudos to Clifton Collins Jr., who appears as a dispenser of cleaning products and common sense. Read full review

75
Chicago Tribune
| Michael Phillips

The director, New Zealander Christine Jeffs ("Sylvia"), loosens the plotting as best she can, letting the interactions breathe. Her work, and the film, is strictly about the performers. Read full review

75
USA Today
| Claudia Puig

Dark humor intersperses with poignant moments. Though the conclusion feels forced, the movie works. Read full review

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Amy Adams in "Sunshine Cleaning."