Sunshine Cleaning

Name: Sunshine Cleaning
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: March 13, 2009
Duration: 91 min
Rating: 61
Cast: Alan Arkin, Amy Adams, Emily Blunt

2009

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 81 Ratings

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6.3

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6.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 81 Ratings

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Sunshine Cleaning

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Movie Details & Credits

Overture Films | Release Date: March 13, 2009 | R

Starring: Alan Arkin, Amy Adams, Emily Blunt

Summary: Once the high school cheerleading captain who dated the quarterback, Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams) now finds herself a thirty something single mother working as a maid. Her sister Norah, (Emily Blunt), is still living at home with their dad Joe (Alan Arkin), a salesman with a lifelong history of ill-fated get rich quick schemes. Desperate toOnce the high school cheerleading captain who dated the quarterback, Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams) now finds herself a thirty something single mother working as a maid. Her sister Norah, (Emily Blunt), is still living at home with their dad Joe (Alan Arkin), a salesman with a lifelong history of ill-fated get rich quick schemes. Desperate to get her son into a better school, Rose persuades Norah to go into the crime scene clean-up business with her to make some quick cash. In no time, the girls are up to their elbows in murders, suicides and other... specialized situations. As they climb the ranks in a very dirty job, the sisters find a true respect for one another and the closeness they have always craved finally blossoms. (Overture Films)… Expand

Director: Christine Jeffs

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy

Rating: R

Runtime: 91 min

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Critic Reviews

Betsy Sharkey

A smartly done morality tale that couldn't be more in sync with these troubled times. Read full review

Carrie Rickey

Kudos to Clifton Collins Jr., who appears as a dispenser of cleaning products and common sense. Read full review

Claudia Puig

Dark humor intersperses with poignant moments. Though the conclusion feels forced, the movie works. Read full review

Joe Morgenstern

You'll miss out on some really great stuff if you don't see this surprising movie. Read full review

Premiere Olivia Putnal and Krista Soriano

This is definitely one to make you feel good all over. Read full review

Todd McCarthy

Director Christine Jeffs, who previously helmed "Rain" and "Sylvia," tries to strike a balance between the yarn's dark currents and offbeat comedy, but the result is often uneasy, with the humor receding as things progress. Read full review

Dan Zak

A boring, choppy dramedy. Read full review

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User Reviews

SteveM

Jun 12, 2009

Loved it, Amy and Emily Blunt are terrific.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

StevenK

Apr 4, 2009

Unusual premise, great acting, Alan Arkin, what more could you ask for.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

TatianaO

Sep 18, 2009

Amy Adams does an amazing job in this sweet movie. It makes you want to help out people and be more understanding with people that you do not get. Thumbs up!

0 of 0 users found this helpful

tonyGreen

Jun 3, 2011

It has gravity but it's not overdone. Great performances from all the cast, but particularly Amy Adams. Not a lot happens, but there is a lot going on underneath.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

beingryanjude

Sep 1, 2014

Sunshine Cleaning is familiar, yet absolutely fresh. A dark subject matter that could turn folks away--but the film makes light of it. I found Amy Adams and Emily Blunt to be more than enough to make this film worth it.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

averyc

Sep 22, 2009

Adams and Blunt are pretty and decent. Arkin is annoying, as always. This movie is tepid and bland like 'Little Miss Sunshine'. Just because something is slow and not about affluent people in NYC or Los Angeles does not make it deep, profound, or moving. Watching this film is like Adams and Blunt are pretty and decent. Arkin is annoying, as always. This movie is tepid and bland like 'Little Miss Sunshine'. Just because something is slow and not about affluent people in NYC or Los Angeles does not make it deep, profound, or moving. Watching this film is like hanging out with boring people in a Starbucks. These slow and/or contemplative films are terrific: Solaris, Before Sunset, L'Avventura, Away From Her, Exotica, The Graduate, Scene From a Marriage. Those are great films. Those films are, by and large, about interesting people going through dark hours. 'Sunshine Cleaning' is about boring people going through tough times. Absolutely nothing interesting was done with the characters' proximity to death. That constitutes a huge failure of narrative and psychological imagination. If I sound pissy, it's because I resent when tedium and vapidity masquerade as depth. That excerpt from Rosenblatt's Austin Chronicle review is dead on.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

perrywinkle

Jan 3, 2011

This movie was a big disappointment. The slow moving undeveloped plot never got off the ground and crashed on the runway. I had no empathy or patience with the characters and I would have had more satisfaction if they had all burned up in the house. I kept waiting for a humorous scene but itThis movie was a big disappointment. The slow moving undeveloped plot never got off the ground and crashed on the runway. I had no empathy or patience with the characters and I would have had more satisfaction if they had all burned up in the house. I kept waiting for a humorous scene but it never came. It was more befitting an episode on a TV series than a movie.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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