Sunshine Cleaning (2008)
I just want to start this out by saying that Amy Adams should win every award that can be given in the field of acting – best supporting actor and best actor included – because this woman is amazing in everything I’ve ever seen her in. She’s beautiful, talented and just generally awesome.
Okay, now that I have that out of the way, Amy Adams is just one of the incredible performers that make up the cast of Sunshine Cleaning. Little Jason Spevack is adorable as Ocsar and Alan Arkin is brilliant as family patriarch and perennial screw up, Joe. Emily Blunt (whom I first fell in love with as Emily in The Devil Wears Prada)… what can I even say about Emily Blunt. Her performance as Norah in this movie is absolutely heartbreaking.
I had some problems with Sunshine Cleaning – namely the ending. Sometimes a more open, unresolved ending works, but I felt there needed to be more here. I wanted to know what happened with Rose, Amy Adam’s character, and the one armed model builder Winston. Surely it was love? Am I wrong here?
Aside from the unsatisfying ending, Sunshine Cleaning may have been one of my favorite movies this year. Just a word of warning though, considering the premise of the movie (two sisters need money and start a bio-hazard removal service, which basically means they ‘clean up’ crime scenes etc, after the body has been removed) there is a fair bit of blood. If you have a weak stomach you might have a hard time with this one.
The Cake Eaters (2007)
Directed by the incredible Mary Stuart Masterson, The Cake Eaters isn’t just a great chick flick, but a great movie overall. Kristen Stewart (Twilight) plays Georgia, a young woman with Friedreich’s ataxia – a disease that causes nerve damage and eventual heart disease – beautifully and it’s impossible not to love Elizabeth Ashley as Georgia’s free spirited grandmother. I absolutely loved this movie, although there was one serious flaw, so let’s get to that now.
The Cake Eaters was written by Jayce Bartok who also plays the completely unnecessary role of Beagle’s older brother Guy. I kept waiting for something to happen with his character that factored into the story, but it never amounted to anything. He shows up, does his thing and is in the final scene of the movie, but he really has no impact on the movie at all. Jayce gave a great performance in the movie and wrote a great script but his character seemed to be written in as an excuse to cast himself in the movie.
Aside from that, I really have no complaints about the movie. Some people are frustrated by the ending (which I won’t ruin here) but I love a movie that doesn’t wrap everything up in a neat package and lets you draw your own conclusions. If that isn’t your thing, you might want to skip The Cake Eaters.
