Sunshine Cleaning, March 2008
Life is Good at Santana Row, but not so much for Sunshine Cleaning. Yes in deed I saw the trailer for this film both in a theater preview and also on-line, but nothing prepared me for the dark depiction of a woman struggling to get ahead in life with her family, friends, and job. Rose (Amy Adams) is a forty something single mother that peaked in high school and ever since has tried to make something with her life. She has a dysfunctional relationship with her sister, her Dad is looking for the idea that is going to make him a million, her son is very loving but needs some attention and nurturing so he acts out with peculiar behavior, and the list goes on. I was originally looking for an “up-lifting” laugh out loud mov ie (per the description on Fandago.com) and I kept hoping things will turn around for Rose. The acting is very good. Emily Blunt (Devil Wears Prada) and Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine) as well as the other actors is excellent and took you to their dark past and current world, but at one point I turned to my Mom and said, “I guess my take-away from this is that my life really isn’t that bad”. Lastly, which you may see from the trailer, Rose is trying to make something of her self by being a Hazmat clean up crew to crime scenes (mainly suicide clean-up) so there is a bit of blood, gore and decay. You get used to it after a few scenes, and they don’t show you much but just the thought of these ladies trying to make a buck by the loss of another makes your stomach turn. In the end things turn around (a bit), but not enough for my comfort level. I have a feeling Rose will continue to live with her demons, and try to make something of her self but it will be a while, and it may not be possible. Go see this movie if you are a movie lover. If you are looking for a light-hearted depiction of a family this is not the film for you.
The movie ended by 9:15 so a shorter film. A friend and I decided to enjoy a drink somewhere on the Row. FYI, on a Tuesday night many restaurants stop serving dinner and drinks at 9pm, but Left Bank http://www.santanarow.com/shopping/store/left_bank_brasserie/ ended up being open so we enjoyed a Cosmo and pommes frites. This was a great way to end the night!