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Sunshine Cleaning has a less than subtle, standard, dysfunctional family plot line. No fresh look at dysfunction, but, then, how could there be, eh? Two sisters something like the sisters in practical magic but without any redeeming charm. One struggling to make a life for her young son and the other a ditz. Really? Did we need another one of these?
The good news is the case plays the obvious characters well. Good enough, in fact, that I wasn't board by their angsty relationship. I really liked Alan Arkin's character in Little Miss Sunshine. And here that character is again!
The movie a dark(supposedly) comedy-drama. There where some good humorous moments. There were a many more moments of "I can't suspend my disbelief that much." Still, it was better than "we did manage to watch the whole things" and worse than "I might watch that again sometime." It gets a 2 out of five. Don't watch it if you are already bored!
Side Effects is a whole different bag of tricks. From the title and the first few minutes of the film, I was prepared for a morality tale about the Big Pharma. Fine. If the characters are compelling and I like the actors, I can sit through that.
There are a handful of actors for whom I was sit while they read the phone book. Jude Law is one. His character is complex he plays it really well. I had no trouble believing he was a real person. Catherine Zeta-Jones who, by billing is not going to have a small role, appears to have a small role. I spent a goodly amount of time trying to figure out how her part was going to suddenly be a lot bigger. None of my guesses held up. Rooney Mara who plays Jude Law's patient plays her part stunningly well. When I quickly realized this was not going where I expected -- a boring "bad corporation" movie -- I was hooked. 4 out of five.
The good news is the case plays the obvious characters well. Good enough, in fact, that I wasn't board by their angsty relationship. I really liked Alan Arkin's character in Little Miss Sunshine. And here that character is again!
The movie a dark(supposedly) comedy-drama. There where some good humorous moments. There were a many more moments of "I can't suspend my disbelief that much." Still, it was better than "we did manage to watch the whole things" and worse than "I might watch that again sometime." It gets a 2 out of five. Don't watch it if you are already bored!
Side Effects is a whole different bag of tricks. From the title and the first few minutes of the film, I was prepared for a morality tale about the Big Pharma. Fine. If the characters are compelling and I like the actors, I can sit through that.
There are a handful of actors for whom I was sit while they read the phone book. Jude Law is one. His character is complex he plays it really well. I had no trouble believing he was a real person. Catherine Zeta-Jones who, by billing is not going to have a small role, appears to have a small role. I spent a goodly amount of time trying to figure out how her part was going to suddenly be a lot bigger. None of my guesses held up. Rooney Mara who plays Jude Law's patient plays her part stunningly well. When I quickly realized this was not going where I expected -- a boring "bad corporation" movie -- I was hooked. 4 out of five.