16 發光的城市 A R O U N D T O W N FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2010 • TAIPEI TIMES FILM REVIEW

‘Sunshine Cleaning’ has all the right ingredients for an offbeat indie unshine Cleaning, a quirky life as a maid. She is having an affair Arkin as Joe Lorkowski, a character comedy, but somehow the indie picture staring Amy with police officer Mac (), who has the wisdom of the deeply parts don’t add up Adams, originally released who she knows deep in her heart will flawed personality. Although the role S in 2008, has finally made it never leave his wife Heather, a former is not quite up to the same levels to Taiwan for a mainstream release, schoolmate. As Rose is in desperate of weirdness that he displayed as possibly with the idea of picking up on need money to pay her son’s tuition, Grandpa Edwin Hoover in Little Miss By Ian Bartholomew some of the massive publicity which Mac helps her connect with the crime Sunshine, it is still full of a skewed Staff Reporter surrounded the release of Julie & scene cleanup business, and Sunshine vitality, and hints at depths that the Julia (2009) earlier this year, which Cleaning is born. Rose is insecure, efficient and sometimes all too slick brought Adams to prominence with having failed to provide herself with performances of Adams and Blunt fail local audiences. It also reveals to us a husband, or become part of an to provide. that Adams is a more sophisticated acceptable profession that will put Sunshine Cleaning is a deeply actress than her role as Julie Powell her on the same social footing as her enjoyable film to watch, though gave her the opportunity to show. high school friends. Her ambition is it promises more than it actually This is an old-fashioned film in to be a real estate agent. Her efforts delivers. It has good intentions, but that it relies heavily on a fine script to achieve a solid, tiresome middle- the film is too programmatic, the and interesting characters to drive the class respectability are hampered by careful nuts and bolts of its structure story forward, but it also has a gloss her slacker sister Norah () all proudly on display. Any organic of indie chic about it, which links and father (Alan Arkin), a small-time unity, and the satisfying feeling that it up with recent hits such as Little scam artist. goes along with that, are lost in this Miss Sunshine and Juno. For better The messy business of crime display of technical prowess. or for worse, it doesn’t have the same scene cleanup serves as a remarkably  Photos courtesy of Flash Forward Entertainment edginess as either of these films, and its good springboard for Megan Holley’s indie appeal is something of a pose. script, which opts for a thoughtful Sunshine Cleaning opens with humor rather than picking up easy a man walking into a gun shop with gross out jokes. The main complaint Sunshine Cleaning a 20 gauge shotgun cartridge in his about Sunshine Cleaning is that it pocket. He asks to inspect some guns, takes on too much, and a subplot DIRECTED BY: then uses one to blow his head off. that involves Norah tracking down The resultant mess is clearly a tragedy the daughter of a deceased woman for someone, but it also represents whose house she helps Rose clean STARRING: a business opportunity for those out is left hanging mid-movie. It is (Rose Lorkowski), specializing in the cleanup operation. a sign of the film’s quality that even Emily Blunt (Norah The rest of the film follows this loose end vibrates with dramatic Lorkowski), Alan Arkin (Joe this formula of tragedy leading to potential before it is unceremoni- Lorkowski), Jason Spevack opportunity, and we know that ously dropped. For the rest, it (Oscar Lorkowski), Steve Zahn despite all the obstacles that the main sometimes seems that Holley is trying (Mac), Mary Lynn Rajskub character faces in getting her life to incorporate every possible device (Lynn), Clifton Collins Jr together, she will inevitably succeed. and character type ever used in light (Winston), Amy Redford This makes the tragedy of life just a comedy into this film. There are some (Heather) little too facile for the film’s own good, excellent moments, and just when RUNNING TIME: and fatally undermines its attempts to you hope the director will pursue 91 MINUTES achieve real indie street cred. a particular line, it is dropped and Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams) another device is introduced. TAIWAN RELEASE: is messy is a former high school cheerleader One of the highlights of Sunshine TODAY now eking out a somewhat precarious Cleaning is the performance of Alan

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Donkey Xote action feature. The world has been 鎂) provides more than adequate rather surprisingly made with a young woman with Down It is hard to imagine why this ravaged by an infectious virus, and eye candy. the sponsorship of Bangkok’s syndrome who lives with her 2007 Spanish animation, now it is up to Alice to take down the BTS Skytrain system. With the mother running a small shop in dubbed into English, has ended people responsible. Guns, knives city playing a significant role, Buenos Aires. The relationship up on these shores, other than and explosive devices abound as Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story is carefully crafted by director as fodder for those who thought Alice fights her way through a vast lends itself to comparison with Marcos Carnevale, and features 陳駿霖 that Shrek Forever After was underground complex to complete Arvin Chen’s ( ) Au Revoir excellent acting by veteran 一頁台北 funny. Even the trailer for the film her mission. Taipei ( ). 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Its 8:30pm at Whose Books (胡思二手 (Alice) never fails to look less played by (張家 conceptual framework is largely 書店), 44, Ln 235 Zhongzheng Rd, than ravishing in a skin-tight 輝), and his informant, played by Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story that of matinee soap opera, with Taipei City (台北市中正路235巷44號). bodysuit and she is joined once Nicolas Tse (謝霆鋒), has sufficient An urban love story that broke many of the problems faced by Anita For more information, send an again by Ali Larter (Niki Sanders complexity to draw audiences into box office records when it was the women in the film solved by Rescheduled from last week, e-mail to [email protected] from Heroes) in this girl-power the story, and Kwai Lun-mei (桂綸 released in Thailand, the film was marriage to Mr Right. Anita is an Argentine film about or call (02) 8914-5953.