Sunshine Cleaning Review by Year 10 Students

Editorial

Sunshine Cleaning is a warm hearted film that will easily appeal to the average movie-goer! It’s an emotionally enchanting story of two sisters overcoming their grief and trying to put their lives on the right track.

Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams) is a responsible single mother, working as a maid and (not ideally) having an affair with her high school sweetheart, Mac (Steve Zahn). Things begin to unravel when one day her son, Oscar, (Jason Spevack), is expelled from school for disruptive behaviour in a hilarious incident that involved Oscar licking his teachers’ leg. Rose believes her son’s behavioural issues will be resolved by going to a private school, and to fund this decision, calls on Mac to help her get a better paid job in the bio-hazard clean-up business.

Norah Lorkowski (Emily Blunt),  Rose’s cynical sister, who was recently fired (again), joins Rose in  her steadily growing business while Oscar spends his days going along to his Grandpa Joe’s (Alan Arkin) shoddy business trips, proving that he is actually quite smart, but just unbalanced because of his family.

The plot is a simple one and it is the characters that make this movie fascinating; the chemistry between Adams and Blunt is one of the film’s strengths, reminding us just how great the bond between sisters can be. Their relationship is dramatic and emotional, yet also the source of great comic relief. As we follow the trips of Oscar and Joe, we witness Joe investing in some rather eccentric products which no one will buy and Oscar gets advice on being a ‘good businessman’ from the unconventional Grandpa.

This movie has the power to touch people’s hearts, with Emily Blunt, who is an extraordinary actress, and whose versatility is beneficial and advanced, and Jason Spevack, whose natural talent shows through, this movie is worthy of 4 stars out of 5; therefore I will give it a 4.2, just because of the excellent casting.

By Sarah Vinaev, Year 10 student on Work Experience

A heart-warming film about two sisters trying to make it in the real world.

Some describe it as this year’s Juno. Some might say it’s just a B-grade black comedy meant for a few chuckles. Either way, Sunshine Cleaning is a movie about two average sisters slugging it out in the real world as they start a crime scene cleanup service.

Amy Adams (Doubt, Enchanted) stars as Rose Lorkowski, a single mother and ex-cheerleader who works as a maid and whose son has behavioural issues, while Emily Blunt plays Norah (The Jane Austen Book Club, The Devil Wears Prada), Rose’s younger sister who struggles to get a grip on her life. As Rose toils to make enough money to scrape a living, Mac (Steve Zahn), Rose’s high school sweetheart with whom she is having an affair, suggests the sisters start a bio-hazard clean-up service.

Sunshine Cleaning isn’t your typical box-office triumph, but it’s a movie with heart. As the sisters begin their business, the film explores the curious connection between those that are living and those that are dead. The characters, two average people in an average world, reach out to the audience. They find they come to enjoy what they do, supported by their eccentric widowed father (Alan Arkin).

It’s warm, it’s funny, it makes you care about what happens to these sisters who symbolise what so many go through in everyday life: work that isn’t recognised, but makes a difference nonetheless. Blunt particularly stands out as the emotionally distraught Norah, next to her more subtle counterpart in Adams.

Although the film appeals to those that need a little push in life, it sometimes can’t decide what it wants to be, switching from being a black comedy to an emotional drama midway through. Although being a good watch, you can’t help but feel Sunshine Cleaning is a bit rough around the edges story-wise, but that ground is covered by the depth of its characters.

Sunshine Cleaning isn’t perfect, but director Christine Jeffs and writer Megan Holley should certainly be proud of their product. The film is simple, warm, and certainly worth a watch.  4/5

Dilan Fernando, Year 10 student on Work Experience

After her 8 year old son Oscar is expelled from school, Rose Lorkowki (Amy Adams), a struggling single mom, is forced to make her living cleaning other people’s homes so her rouble-making son attend a strict and expensive private school.  When high school sweetheart ,and police detective, Mac (Steve Zahn), suggests she can make some serious money in cleaning up crime scenes, she enlists the help of her sarcastic sister, Norah (Emily Blunt), to join her in the gory and gruesome new business venture. What first starts off as a simple plan for financial gain takes a turn when they begin to find their work helping others cope with loss ultimately rewarding.

Rose’s quirks and habits; such as the post-it stickers with words of encouragement stuck to her bathroom mirror; are made apparent through the film as is her attitude to life and dedication to family, supporting not only her son but also her troubled sister.  The film reaches into the depths of her family’s tragic past and loss, and explains Rose’s need to fulfil the parenting role in her sister’s life.

Amy Adams role as Rose Lorkowki shows the depth of her character, from loving mother to annoyed sister, and together with Emily Blunt (Norah) they bring the story to life through their portrayal of their respected characters. Their less than perfect lives are explored, as their lives takes unexpected turns from a forbidden love affair to the dreadful task of cleaning up after the shambolic lives of others, the film is worth every cent.

I give the movie 4 stars out of 5; because the theme and storyline is not one which I would usually watch, but there is no doubt in my mind that it is an excellent film and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  4/5

Kelly Cui, Year 10 student on Work Experience

Read the "official" Citysearch review and watch the trailer!