"There's not a lot that I am good at. But I'm good at getting guys to want me. Not date me, or marry me, but want me."-Rose Lorkowski
Although she would become a bona fide star with the delightful Enchanted (2007), the film that made me an Amy Adams fan was Catch Me If You Can (2002) because she expressed sweetness and vulnerability that made you believe Leonardo DiCaprio's con man would want to give up his womanizing ways and settle down with her.
For some reason, though, there was a bit of a delay before other, equally juicy parts would head her way. One of those parts was in this film, in which she plays Rose Lorkowski, a single mother who is having an affair with a married man and who needs to raise enough money to send her son to a private school. With the help of her high school friend Mac (Steve Zahn), she evenutally finds work in an unlikely profession, as a crime scene cleanup lady.
Rose eventually persuades her underachieving sister Norah (Emily Blunt) to join her on her unorthodox venture and, together, they create Sunshine Cleaning. Despite some initial false steps, the business becomes successful, and gives Rose enough confidence to end her relationship. One day, however, Norah accidentally burns down a house she is cleaning (Rose is attending a baby shower at the time). This leads to Sunshine Cleaning going out of business.
Fortunately, their eccentric father (Alan Arkin) evenutally comes to the rescue with a new cleaning business that Rose agrees to go into with him. Norah, presumably, finds peace with herself after taking a road trip to find herself.
While I doubt setting up a business such as cleaning up crime scenes is as simple as this film makes it out to be, this movie is still a wonderful, uplifting character study.
Both Adams and Blunt are great and instantly likeable, but the scene-stealer is Arkin who quite funny as the father who, despite his seeming, life-long indifference, manages to come through for his little girls.
