This unusual dramatic comedy from Big Beach Films and Overture Films provides lots of laughs and a few tears as two impoverished sisters struggle to find their way in life by cleaning up after death.
The Story of Sunshine Cleaning
Although Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams) was the popular cheerleading captain who dated the quarterback in high school, she’s now a struggling single mother living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with no marketable skills other than experience cleaning houses. Her lazy sister, Norah (Emily Blunt), still lives at home with their father (Alan Arkin) and occasionally helps Rose with babysitting.
When Rose’s policeman lover (Steve Zahn) tells her how lucrative crime scene cleanup can be, she talks her sister into joining her in this new career endeavor. As they expand the business and their horizons by cleaning up after murders and suicides, the women meet new people, make lots of money, and learn about environmental safety, but most importantly, form a bond with each other that helps them come to terms with their past.
The Cast and Crew of Sunshine Cleaning
- Amy Adams (Doubt, Enchanted, Talladega Nights) has enjoyed a skyrocketing film career lately with a slew of challenging roles and prestigious nominations. Her television credits include The Office and The West Wing.
- British actress Emily Blunt (The Great Buck Howard, Dan in Real Life , The Devil Wears Prada) gained prominence through her breakout role in the 2004 film My Summer of Love, in which she plays a cynical 16-year-old.
- Alan Arkin (Get Smart, Marley & Me, Edward Scissorhands) won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Little Miss Sunshine.
- Steve Zahn (Rescue Dawn, Sahara, Chicken Little) is a versatile actor who got his start on an episode of the television soap opera All My Children in 1990.
- Director Christine Jeffs also directed the 2003 drama Sylvia, a biopic about American poet Sylvia Plath that starred Gwyneth Paltrow and Daniel Craig. In 2002, Jeffs was named one of Variety’s “10 Directors to Watch.”
- Producer Jeb Brody is the president of production at Vendome Pictures, who along with Marc Turtletaub and Peter Saraf, was a founding partner at Big Beach. Brody served as executive producer on Little Miss Sunshine, which won an Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay (Michael Arndt) and featured Arkin in his Oscar-winning role.
Sunshine Cleaning Theatrical Release
- Sunshine Cleaning
- Desperate for money, a single mother and her sister start a cleaning service for crime scenes.
- Starring Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin, Steve Zahn, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Clifton Collins, Jr.
- Director: Christine Jeffs
- Run Time: 102 minutes
- Rating: R (for language, disturbing images, some sexuality and drug use)
- Release Dates: Opens in select theaters March 13, 2009; opens wide March 27, 2009.
For a review of Sunshine Cleaning, read Sunshine Cleaning Movie Review. For more information about the film, visit the official website.
Leslie C. Halpern - Leslie C. Halpern, Romantic Films/Comedies Topic Editor, authored Passionate About Their Work, Reel Romance, & Dreams on Film.
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