Posts tagged fluids

False Promises

“Hotshots” looks at a movie!

SUNSHINE CLEANING is a quirky little film that wants to be so much better than it actually is, given that it actually does display a great deal of promise.

It stars Amy Adams as Rose Lorkowski, Emily Blunt as her sister, Norah, and Alan Arkin as their father, Joe, a sort-of dysfunctional family living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with a troubled past that is revealed about halfway through the film.

The film begins with a fairly dramatic and shocking scene that doesn’t so much set the tone of the film, but most likely was intended as a contradiction of what the film wants to be.

Then we see Rose in her bathroom reading what must be her daily
affirmation: “You are strong. You are powerful. You can do anything. You’re a winner.”

Rose works for a maid service, she was the head cheerleader in high school, where she dated the star quarterback on the football team, and she is the single mother of seven-year-old Oscar, who has a history of getting into trouble at school.

Rose’s high-school sweetheart, Mac, still meets with her occasionally, even though he is married to someone else, he is a detective, and he gives Rose the idea of starting her own cleaning service, which would specialize in cleaning up crime scenes, and thus is born the Sunshine Cleaning Service.

Rose convinces Norah to join her in the business, telling her that it is just like cleaning up a home, only there is blood and body fluids.

Norah just got fired from her job as a waitress, she likes weird stuff, and to say that Norah has quirks would be a gross understatement.

Their father, Joe, is a piece of work, too. He is always looking for a way to make some easy money, and when Rose leaves Oscar with Joe while she and Norah clean up crime scenes, sometimes Oscar works as Joe’s shill and Joe teaches Oscar what he calls “business acumen.”

However, when Rose attends a baby shower so she can see many of her old high-school friends, she sends Norah to a crime scene to begin the cleaning process, and Norah causes a disaster to occur.

SUNSHINE CLEANING has too many false promises that don’t deliver, just like Rose’s daily affirmation ritual, which doesn’t do much for her.

I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”