Sunshine Cleaning

"life's a messy business."

2009 1h 31m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 877

ComedyDrama

Synopsis

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A single mother and her slacker sister find an unexpected way to turn their lives around in this off-beat dramatic comedy. In order to raise the tuition to send her young son to private school the mom starts an unusual business – a biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service.

“life's a messy business.”

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Cast

Amy Adams
Rose Lorkowski
Emily Blunt
Norah Lorkowski
Steve Zahn
Mac
Alan Arkin
Joe Lorkowski
Clifton Collins Jr.
Winston
Eric Christian Olsen
Randy
Kevin Chapman
Carl Swanson
Jason Spevack
Oscar Lorkowski

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Christine Jeffs
Writers: Megan Holley
Languages: English, Spanish
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.2× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 17 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Christine Jeffs, shot by John Toon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Michael Penn. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Heather Persons shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Amy Adams and Emily Blunt and Steve Zahn carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "life's a messy business.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Christine Jeffs directs. John Toon behind the camera. Michael Penn scores. Heather Persons cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 3.2× over at the box office.
2Released 17 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
4Directed by Christine Jeffs, shot by John Toon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Michael Penn. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Heather Persons shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Amy Adams and Emily Blunt and Steve Zahn carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "life's a messy business.".
9IMDB entry: tt0862846 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 12 themes, including "suicide", "sibling relationship", "single parent", "cleaning lady".

The technical file

Cinematography: John Toon
Original score: Michael Penn
Editing: Heather Persons
Production design: Joseph T. Garrity
Costume design: Alix Friedberg
Makeup / hair: Voni Hinkle
Stunt coordinator: Al Goto
Runtime: 91 min · 1h 31m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $5,000,000
Box office: $16,174,377
Return: 323% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Sunshine Cleaning (2009)

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Christine Jeffs

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Community reviews

What people are saying

DoryDarko2017-02-21
★ 10/10
The first thing that went through my head the second Sunshine Cleaning ended, was 'I could have gone on watching for at least another hour'. Not just because it ended a little abruptly, but mostly because I so thoroughly enjoyed this film, that I was seriously disappointed when it was over. It's like that book that's so compelling that you just want to inhale every word, but dread to actually finish. Sunshine Cleaning is about two sisters, who, driven by dire financial straits, decide to start "a biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service", cleaning up the houses of people who died gruesome deaths. The premise is fairly simple, but executed in a very lovely, heart-warming way, half tragedy – half comedy. Because of course, this film is not only about cleaning up other people's mess, but also about cleaning up some of their own baggage along the way, especially when the sisters are confronted with the memory of a death akin to what is now their daily business. Somewhere in between all this they have to deal with their eccentric father, the elder sister's peculiar son, love, loss, failure and a glimmer of hope. Reading this back now I realise this actually sounds really cheesy and sentimental, but I would have hated it if it was. Trust me. Amy Adams plays Rose, the eldest of the two, and Emily Blunt plays Norah, the rebellious younger sister. Rarely have I seen such great chemistry and energy between a leading pair. These two women make it seem like they've been working together for years, and physically they're a perfect match too, they actually look they could be sisters. Rose is obviously the mature, sensible one, whereas Norah just kind of takes things as they come, not worrying and not taking responsibility for her life. Though they seem to be bound not so much by kinship, but rather by a mutual fate and childhood hardship that has left its mark on both of them, although they deal with it very differently. Rose tries desperately to build a better life for herself and her son, but rarely finds any luck on her path. Norah just wings it and refuses to grow up. Both Amy Adams and Emily Blunt prove to have great star quality and talent, and I think I can now officially call myself a fan of both. They are raw and real, one is sweet and the other is sour, without overacting anything. Alan Arkin is great as their dad. Eccentric, bitter yet loving, idealistic and seemingly in a mild state of denial. He plays pretty much the same character as in that other (great!) film of Sunshine Cleaning's producers, Little Miss Sunshine, where he also played the grumpy granddad. This type of role seems to be custom-made for him. Another great part is played by professional chameleon Clifton Collins, Jr. He plays Winston, the owner of a cleaning supplies shop, and he turns out to be that small shimmer of good luck that Rose so desperately needs. Actually, everyone in this film is so perfectly cast that it almost seems like this is a real family, in a real situation. It just doesn't feel contrived in any way, despite the lack of originality and obvious pitfalls where the story could have easily crashed and burned into a wasteland of melodrama and false sentiment. But like I mentioned earlier, this doesn't happen at any point. Usually when a film is on the borderline of becoming a total cliché, and yet works out successfully, it is because of one or maybe two factors. However, with Sunshine Cleaning, it's all of them. Cast, screenplay, dialogue, direction, camera work, production, just everything is wonderful. I'm actually running out of superlatives to describe this film. I'm inclined to give this film 10 stars, however there is just one small thing that kind of failed in my opinion and that's the ending. Nothing wrong with it story-wise, it just ended so abruptly that it feels like they literally ran out of tape. It actually kind of threw me off. But... oh, what the heck, this film deserves 10 stars, easily. In conclusion, Sunshine Cleaning is just a beautifully crafted story about falling (hard) and getting back up on your feet again. It has a real indie-feel to it, it's basically just a pretty little art house gem. Funny thing – while I'm writing this, 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up" is playing in the background, and it feels strangely appropriate to the feeling of this film. So if you want to know what to expect of Sunshine Cleaning, listen to that song, it really captures the essence of the story. I can't think of much more to say to sell this film, all I can do is strongly recommend Sunshine Cleaning to pretty much anyone and everyone. It's wonderful. (May 2012)

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