I've been meaning to go back and watch this since realising that its two leads are Amy Adams and Emily Blunt, two of my latter-day faves, and inevitably that was one of the main lenses through which I rewatched the film, as to which: Adams is as steely-vulnerable convincing here as she is in everything, while Blunt manages to project at least some charisma and genuine feeling from underneath some fairly thankless makeup and character-attitude (and they really do not look like sisters).
I reckon I already felt this a bit last time, but this time the film's soulfulness - not quite the right word, not least given how white Sunshine Cleaning is - touched me a bit more, though I again felt the pieces didn't quite coalesce ... I think what could've really made the film sing, rather than being merely nice, would have been the secondary characters' narratives punching through a bit more, in their own rights and as stronger counterpoints to Rose's and Norah's arcs (including the loss of their mother) - their father Joe and Rose's son Oscar especially, but also the other, less developed characters.
I reckon I already felt this a bit last time, but this time the film's soulfulness - not quite the right word, not least given how white Sunshine Cleaning is - touched me a bit more, though I again felt the pieces didn't quite coalesce ... I think what could've really made the film sing, rather than being merely nice, would have been the secondary characters' narratives punching through a bit more, in their own rights and as stronger counterpoints to Rose's and Norah's arcs (including the loss of their mother) - their father Joe and Rose's son Oscar especially, but also the other, less developed characters.
