DVD Release Date:  August 25, 2009
Theatrical Release Date:  March 20, 2009 (limited)
Rating:  R (for language, disturbing images, some sexuality and drug use)
Genre:  Drama
Run Time:  102 min.
Director:  Christine Jeffs
Actors:  Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin, Jason Spevack, Steve Zahn, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Clifton Collins Jr., Eric Christian Olsen

It has the word "Sunshine" in the title. It stars Alan Arkin as the head of a dysfunctional family. Suicide is treated both as serious and, at times, darkly comic.

No, this is not a description of Little Miss Sunshine, for which Alan Arkin took home the Best Supporting Actor trophy but of Sunshine Cleaning, with Arkin in support of lead performances from Amy Adams and Emily Blunt. Based on what they do in Sunshine Cleaning, those two actresses may yet vie for Academy recognition at next year's ceremony.

The film has a familiar, quirky quality to it and a plot that doesn't offer too many surprises, but Sunshine Cleaning is a moving look at human loss, at how we grapple with the afterlife, and at the generational consequences of parental selfishness and suffering. Those who have the patience to let its story unfold will discover an affecting drama rooted in ultimate questions and spiritual longing.

If nothing else, Sunshine Cleaning puts a more pleasant face on the CSI-dominated entertainment landscape that's become so familiar through the multiple crime-procedurals that currently air on network television. It shows that once the grim crime-scene investigators clear out, someone else comes along to clean up the mess and, in the words of Adams' character, Rose Lorkowski, help grieving loved ones move on with their lives in some small way.

When we meet Rose, she's a house cleaner conducting an affair with an old high school flame (Steve Zahn). He was the quarterback, she was the cheerleading captain. But now he's married, and Rose's ambitions extend no further than the hope that she might one day become a Realtor. At least that's what she tells a client who turns out to be a former classmate.

Rose needs to advance professionally not only for personal fulfillment, but in order to make more money. Her son, Oscar (Jason Spevack), has had one too many discipline problems at school, and she's been given an ultimatum:  Medicate the child, or find another school for him. Both options will be costly.

Her lover, Mac, is a detective who's happy to take what Rose gives him while offering no promises of future commitment. He does, however, use his connections to help her break into the lucrative crime-scene cleaning business. With little to lose, Rose seizes the opportunity, enlisting her ne'er-do-well sister, Norah (Blunt), as a business partner. The crime scenes greet the sisters with blood-splattered ceilings and chairs, foul odors, and sometimes grieving loved ones in need of comfort. While Rose focuses on the business at hand, Norah tries to make personal connections to the victims, piecing together the shards of their lives in an effort to make sense of their deaths.