The opening scene of Christine Jeffs’ (Sylvia, Rain) 2008 Sunshine Cleaning shows a man purchasing a shotgun at a gun shop and proceeding to blow his head off by reaching into his pocket and pulling out a shell that he brought into the store. Steve Zahn (Rescue Dawn, Sahara) plays police detective Mac, who, when ending his investigation of the suicide, meets the crime scene cleanup crew and learns of the above-average wages that this profession brings. Rose Norkowski, played by a convincingly good Amy Adams (Doubt, The Fighter), is Mac’s mistress.

Once a head high school cheerleader and the girl on quarterback Mac’s right arm, Rose is now a down-on-her-luck single mother of one in need of a better job and, more importantly, better pay. Her lack of marketable skills has made being anything more than a maid difficult. Mac has done very well for himself since high school. He’s married and makes a decent living as one of the town’s most respected police detectives. He still has time to meet Rose in a motel room once or twice weekly. There, Mac tells Rose of the wages earned by crime scene cleanup crews.

So Rose and her eccentric younger sister Norah (Emily Blunt – The Adjustment Bureau, The Young Victoria) start Sunshine Cleaning, a company that will clean away the blood, guts, and every other bodily fluid imaginable from a crime scene. Norah is as nearly irresponsible, careless, and needs care as Rose’s seven-year-old son Oscar (Jason Spevack – Ramona and Beezus). After several disturbing incidents, Oscar requires a private school after being expelled from his current school. The incident is Rose’s reason for starting the business.

From there, we go through a series of comedic events in which Rose and Norah show they are obviously over their heads. They don’t know any of the standards related to bio-chemical cleanup. They lie about their credentials. They botch some of their initial assignments.

The main problem with Sunshine Cleaning is that it doesn’t know if it is trying to be a comedy with quirky characters and loving bonds or more of a drama about how people deal with family, issues, and the bumps of everyday life.

Sunshine Cleaning is by the same people who brought 2006’s Little Miss Sunshine. It tries to piggyback on the coattails of this movie rather than carve out a niche of its own. And because of this, it isn’t nearly as successful. Unlike Little Miss Sunshine, this movie does not have those unique characters that captured many audience member’s hearts. Unlike Little Miss Sunshine, this movie doesn’t have a plot to which many audiences will be able to relate. It would have almost been better if the advertising of Sunshine Cleaning did not include any association with Little Miss Sunshine because viewers will go into the movie with unreal expectations.

Rose is a likable character who always wants to do the right thing. As a result, we cheer for her. But her character isn’t the focus. We try to get a glimpse and a resolution of each movie’s characters. Jeff is broad in her ambitions and narrow in her successes. As a result, Sunshine Cleaning leaves us with a sour taste in our mouths, one that hopefully the next movie can help us clean.

Plot 7/10
Character Development 7.5/10
Character Chemistry 7.5/10
Acting 7.5/10
Screenplay 6/10
Directing 5/10
Cinematography 6/10
Sound 5/10
Hook and Reel 9/10
Universal Relevance 6/10
60.5%