Sunshine Cleaning
Overture Films | Release Date: March 13, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
10
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey
A smartly done morality tale that couldn't be more in sync with these troubled times. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
It's a solid indie effort with plenty of nice character strokes by screenwriter Megan Holley and razor-sharp performances by Amy Adams and Emily Blunt. Read full review
80
Film ThreatStina Chyn
Beneath its morbid exterior, Sunshine Cleaning projects a tender portrait of how people help out others and seek a better life for themselves. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
This funny and touching movie depends on two can-do actresses to scrub past the biohazard of noxious clichés that threaten to intrude. Adams and Blunt get the job done. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Dark humor intersperses with poignant moments. Though the conclusion feels forced, the movie works. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
This bittersweet comedy is a fine showcase for a pair of distinctive and appealing talents. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineCammila Albertson
It's a solid depiction of a relatable story, and it's absolutely modest about all of it, especially stylistically, where things stay remarkably reeled in. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Perhaps the most compelling reason to see Sunshine Cleaning is the pairing of two of the best and most charismatic young actresses today. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Kudos to Clifton Collins Jr., who appears as a dispenser of cleaning products and common sense. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
The director, New Zealander Christine Jeffs ("Sylvia"), loosens the plotting as best she can, letting the interactions breathe. Her work, and the film, is strictly about the performers. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
That Sunshine Cleaning was made by women is best revealed in the filmmakers' willingness to let the story breathe on its own terms, without bringing in anything extraneous, unwelcome and exciting. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Its overall ability to balance humor and drama, attention to emotional detail and a few winning performances outweighs its maudlin tendencies. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Amy Adams beguiled audiences in "Junebug" and "Enchanted" and breathed humanity into the histrionic "Doubt." In the eccentric comedy-drama Sunshine Cleaning, set in the least picturesque parts of Albuquerque, N.M., she tops her own proven talent for epiphany. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Amy Adams and Emily Blunt are two highly attractive, naturally funny actresses on the cusp of stardom so their pairing here as two lost souls is genius. Read full review
70
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
Though this well-observed, wry drama is determined to be quirky, its most endearing quality, like that of its heroines, is a willingness to wallow in foul moods and come out the other side. Read full review
70
SlateDana Stevens
Alan Arkin virtually reprises his Oscar-winning role from "Little Miss Sunshine." Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
You'll miss out on some really great stuff if you don't see this surprising movie. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
This peachcolored comedy about a wacky family who shove their sadness into a bulging closet is being marketed as ''from the producers of Little Miss Sunshine'' All that's missing from the formula is a Volkswagen Microbus. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
The best thing to come out of Sunshine Cleaning is the confirmation that Adams, one of Hollywood's most delightful comediennes, is also capable of piercing drama. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Alan Arkin is charm itself as the girls' dreamy father. Indeed, director Christine Jeffs coaxes only good work from the whole of her cast. Read full review
63
PremiereOlivia Putnal and Krista Soriano
This is definitely one to make you feel good all over. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
An intelligent, often touching, sometimes pedestrian drama. Read full review
60
EmpireAngie Errigo
Could have been a little more darkly comic in places but the performances are superb. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
There is a time and a place for scruffy independent also-rans like this, and that time and place is the 2 a.m. slot on IFC. Read full review
50
VarietyTodd 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
50
Village VoiceRobert Wilonsky
More than a year after its first twirl at Sundance, this Amy Adams–Emily Blunt dramedy finally shrugs its way into theaters, and it feels almost like an afterthought. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
How you'll feel about Sunshine Cleaning probably depends on your tolerance for slender, semi-hip comedic dramas about oddball families grappling with sometimes overwhelming problems. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The material might have promise as a black comedy, but its attempt to put on a smiling face is unconvincing. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
It's like an elevated form of sitcom acting, which may be inevitable because this movie, and all its quirky/heartfelt kin, are an elevated version of the sitcom itself. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleJosh Rosenblatt
Sunshine Cleaning doesn't exist in relation to the outside world but only to other movies. Its characters aren't human beings but cultural signifiers and indie-movie stereotypes created to survive in the laboratory safety of the festival circuit but never meant to actually walk the streets or talk to strangers. Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
All in all, it's a mess, and much as Ms. Blunt pouts, Ms. Adams twinkles, and Mr. Arkin growls, there's nothing they can do to clean it up. Read full review
40
Washington PostDan Zak
A boring, choppy dramedy. Read full review
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