Sunshine Cleaning (2008)

New Zealander Christine Jeffs, who directed Gwyneth Paltrow and Daniel Craig in the excellent and depressing Plath bio-pic Sylvia (2003), has moved on to this delightful comedy with some real-life messiness (pun intended). Every time I saw the trailer in which Emily Blunt fell on the mattress, I laughed. Amy Adams (Oscar-nominated for both Doubt (2008) and the wonderful Junebug (2005), and a recurring role in NBC's The Office) plays a down-but-not-out former cheerleader and single mom who starts a cleaning business with her slacker sister, played by the lovely Blunt (best known for The Devil Wears Prada (2006), but you must see her in My Summer of Love (2004); I quite liked Dan in Real Life and Charlie Wilson's War (both 2007), in which she had supporting parts, and she filled out the ensemble in The Great Buck Howard (2009) as well). Alan Arkin's portrayal of their father reminds me of the grandpa he played in Little Miss Sunshine (2006): idiosyncratic, unrealistic, and fiercely loyal and loving. Clifton Collins, Jr., who played the murderer Perry Smith in Capote (2005), was a breath of fresh air as Winston. It's not a spoiler when I say that Winston inspires us all to ask the question: how can a one-armed single man braid his hair so neatly? Some posts on imdb find fault with the depiction of the school principal, but his actions pushed the plot, which Jack & I found nonetheless highly entertaining.