Tony: Sunshine Cleaning DVD review

Hello everyone; based on the number of hits, our DVD reviews are becoming more and more popular with every post. So here's the latest addition to one's DVD collection; Sunshine Cleaning. The movie stars Amy Adams, Emily Blunt and Alan Arkin. Adams and Blunt play sisters, and Arkin plays their father. The sisters, are very different, and share a common bond brought on by a tragic event, that you will see in the movie. They are different, but are both broke. They start a new business where they have to clean up crime scenes, suicides, etc. The comedy is in the situations they're put into, but that's not what the movie is about. The heart of the story is how the girls are affected by the stories behind the crime scenes. How they try to comfort those who lost loved ones; that's the true heart of the story.

The movie had a limited release, it was written by Megan Holley and directed by Christine Jeffs. With a very modest budget of $5 million, the movie went on to gross $15 million nationwide. I loved the acting/characters in this movie. Adams plays a single mom torn between her self-respect and the love of a married man. Blunt plays "the screw up" sister that never amounted to anything. You quickly find out that they lost their mother at a young age and had their father raise them. What I loved was the tension between the three main characters. The sisters and father avoid talking about what happened to their mother to the point of discomfort. Watching Adams become a stronger person was a treat. And watching Blunt "grow up" was amazing. I have to say this performance was neglected by the Academy. The pain and torment this character feels comes across Blunts expressions so well, it could bring an audience to tears.

Arkin is reminiscent of Little Miss Sunshine with his quirky behavior and his "get rich quick" schemes. The movie does well in all departments until the third act. The first two acts build up the business, give it a really tough hurdle to overcome, and then it feels like the production ran out of money. The third act takes only about 10 minutes before the movie is over. It's so abrupt I thought when the screen faded to black, they were coming for more.

Overall I am telling people this is a must rent. There were a few events and a few characters I think the movie could have done without, but overall, most of the material was necessary in progressing the story. The acting and the story were top notch. Please watch this movie and let us know what you thought.