Sunshine Cleaning
by Robert Wilonsky
More than a year after its first twirl at Sundance, this Amy Adams and Emily Blunt dramedy finally shrugs its way into theaters, and it almost seems like an afterthought. A film about sisters who go into the crime-scene cleanup business, it's a muddled mess: terrific performances (from Adams, especially, as the former high-school cheerleader now at the bottom of the pile) buried beneath contrivances and clichés, not to mention Alan Arkin cast yet again as the foulmouthed gramps dispensing four-lettered advice to a troubled youngster (Jason Spevack, as Adams' son, who'll lick anything and anyone). Director Christine Jeffs, working with Megan Holley's screenplay, renders light and dark as muddy shades of sitcom-pilot gray. This has the makings of a great Showtime series — feels a bit like Weeds but with cleaning fluid instead of bong water. Too bad that what's intended to play as funny (girls and gore) stumbles into slapstick, and what's meant to play as profound (girls and dead-mommy issues) sinks into the overwrought. It's another willful, comically tortured "indie" coated with Hollywood's happy-ending sheen.
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