Sunshine Cleaning

Sunshine Cleaning could double as a tertiary-level masterclass in Constructing Your Own Indie Film. In fact, you can follow the instructions yourself at home. First, take a few actors keen to stretch out from their established roles (Enchanted's Amy Adams, 24's Mary Lynn Rajskub), plus a couple of established character actors that won't add any box office but can be relied upon to do a solid job (Steve Zahn, Alan Arkin). Ensure that all of the characters have at least one obvious quirky trait that entirely defines their character - hysterical positivity, sarcasm-that-masks-unresolved-childhood-trauma, refusal to face reality, repressed lesbianism, whatever. Then put them in an unhappy situation with an off-the-wall solution, such as a young single mother who teams up with her sister to start a forensic cleaning service in order to pay for her troubled son's education.

It almost crawls over the finish line thanks to the strength of the cast. Adams and Emily Blunt are convincing as a pair of bickering adult sisters and Arkin is solid as their chasing-the-next-quick-buck dad, while Zahn is typically good as Adams' illicit lover. However, despite the charm of the cast, the subplots never go anywhere (especially Rajskub's thankless role as the socially-awkward estranged daughter of Sunshine Cleaning's first "client") and the main plot sputters out after a denouement that feels anything but climactic. Sometimes all the ingredients are there, but the end result just doesn't taste right.

Extras Theatrical trailer; deleted scenes.

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