Sunshine Cleaning

Sisters Rose and Norah Lorkowski have a slightly dysfunctional relationship and far from ideal home lives.  Rose earns a crust as a maid cleaning richer people's houses to try and provide for her son, Oscar, whilst Norah, who has little or no ambition in life, was recently-fired as a waitress and is still living with their father.  When Rose gets a new client who was at high school with her and is happily married and expecting a child, Rose is embarrassed and wishes she had made more of her life after being the head cheerleader and dating the star quarterback. 
 
The cop (the ex-quaterback) with whom Rose is having an affair mentions that cleaning up crime scenes is a lucrative business and she expands her cleaning job to mopping up blood, brains and other bodily fluids.  Rose laughs this off but, when her slightly odd son is thrown out of school for licking a teacher's leg, she needs money quickly to send him to a private school.  (Oscar's wayward behavior probably has a lot to do with being babysat by his Aunt Norah who fills him full of sugary popcorn and tells him scary stories about the lobster man.)  With Norah unemployed and her desperate for cash, they hastily form a bio-removal company and start taking jobs.  Unfortunately they have no idea what they've let themselves in for and have little idea what they are doing so, after a low-key first job, they find themselves accidentally breaking the law by putting hazardous material into a dumpster on their second.
 

Deciding to make a proper go of it, they go to a supplier whose owner, Winston, takes pity on them and points them in the right direction in terms of equipment, qualifications and rules.  Having now invested in a van and business cards, Sunshine Cleaning is up and running and the two sisters find themselves growing closer and confronting their past.
 
As their father, always looking for a quick buck babysits Oscar, Norah breaks one of the cardinal rules by not throwing everything away and tracks down the daughter of a woman whose house they've cleaned.
 
The biggest boast of Sunshine Cleaning is that it's 'from the producers of Little Miss Sunshine' and the two films do share three producers who seem to specialise in offbeat and quirky films such as Adaptation, Sherrybaby and Everything is Illuminated.  For me, the bigger draw was the cast with Alan Arkin (who won an Oscar for his performance in Little Miss Sunshine), Amy Adams and Emily Blunt who are great actors, each with comedic talent. They continue their form here with some fantastic performances, carefully blending physical comedy with nuance and pathos.  This isn't just a silly comedy, it really has heart and you feel for the characters who are easy to empathise with.
 
This certainly isn't as accomplished as Little Miss Sunshine, with many plot threads left unresolved - in my opinion intentionally, as it suits the characters - but it isn't a particularly tight nor as well directed as Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' Oscar-nominated film.  However, and I say this as a fan of that film, I preferred Sunshine Cleaning as it felt more realistic and the characters and their emotions were more believable.  It is a hugely enjoyable film with some really funny moments and others that give your heartstrings a gentle tug.

The Disc

 
Extra Features
Sadly, all the disc includes is the 11 minute EPK featurette Sunshine Cleaning: A Fresh Look at a Dirty Business and the Theatrical trailer.  The featurette has contributions from Amy Adams and Emily Blunt as well as two women who are crime scene cleaners.  The actors talk about the film and the professionals discuss its veracity and point out events depicted that have happened to them and how much poetic licence has been taken.
 
Actually, there is a commentary but it's hidden away in the audio options and I missed it the first time I went through the disc!  Writer Megan Holley and producer Glenn Williamson deliver a decent track which shows how much input Williamson had on the project though it does cry out for director Christine Jeffs to give her opinion and thoughts on the shoot.  As such, there is too much dead air which is purely due to the absence of someone with everyday hands on experience of the shoot, from pre- to post- production, even an editor, cinematographer or member of the cast would have helped.
 
The Picture
This isn't a film to showcase high definition but the picture is nice and clear with excellent skin tones, colours and contrast.  There is only a little CGI but this fits well and is barely noticeable and the cinematography is very good, though unspectacular.  This is a case where, if you don't notice something, then it isn't an issue and the overall impression is one of a very pleasant transfer.
 
The Sound
The Dolby TrueHD track is similarly unspectacular - this isn't The Matrix or Master and Commander so all you can ask is for crisp dialogue and a fine score filtered well through the surrounds to give a balanced and involving soundstage which this does very well.  There are some ambient sounds through the surround speakers and one scene with a train is suitably loud without any distortion. 
 
There is also a Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 track and English and Spanish subtitles.
 
Final Thoughts
Sunshine Cleaning is funny, through provoking and moving and I liked it a great deal.  Amy Adams, Emily Blunt and Alan Arkin are all excellend and there are fine supporting performances by Jason Spevack as Oscar and Clifton Collins Jr. as Winston.  Just as she did in Little Miss Sunshine, Mary Lynn Rajskub proves her acting chops in a small role.   This is a good film on a pretty standard disc but I've seen much worse and if you like offbeat comedies then this is one to check out.