Feuding sisters rediscover life amid the detritus of the recently deceased in Christine Jeffs’ portrait of dysfunctional family life.

Set against the strip malls and desert of Albuquerque, Sunshine Cleaning picks at the emotional wounds of its world-weary characters and bleeds them dry of the years of jealousy and anger, which have festered beneath the surface.

In the process, painful home truths spark newfound respect and a greater closeness, flecked with earthy humour and romance.

Screenwriter Megan Holley sketches the protagonists in detail, nurturing them through the various trials and tribulations until they achieve some form of personal healing.

Oscar nominee Amy Adams and Emily Blunt are spookily well matched as the chalk-and-cheese siblings who always end up at loggerheads.

The actresses adopt similar speech patterns and mannerisms, and even look uncannily alike, as their heroines seek fulfilment by setting up a most unusual cleaning service.

Rose Lorkowski (Adams) was once the captain of her school’s cheerleading squad and the envy of her classmates.

Now, she is a 30-something single mother trying to take care of her impressionable young son Oscar (Jason Spevack).

Rose works long hours as a cleaner for little pay while her doddering get-rich-quick salesman father Joe (Alan Arkin) searches for the next big scam.

His ridiculous schemes often involve Oscar, who is expelled from his school on account of his anti-social behaviour.

While Rose toils night and day, her slacker sister Norah (Emily Blunt) is fired from one job after another.

She is far more content to lie in bed all day and let life pass her by.

At the suggestion of married cop lover Mac (Steve Zahn), Rose lands some work as a crime scene clean-up technician, mopping up bodily fluids after the police have gone.

‘It’s like cleaning up a house…

but there’s blood there?’ clarifies Norah, who joins her sister in the ghoulish enterprise.

Surrounded by death, the two estranged siblings unexpectedly bond, reigniting fond memories of their dead actress mother, whose most famous role was as a diner waitress with the line, ‘I recommend the pecan pie’.

Sunshine Cleaning strikes a pleasing balance between laughter and tears without ever resorting to cheap gags or cloying sentiment.

Adams convincingly portrays a faded golden girl, clinging forlornly to dreams of a life now far beyond her grasp.

She gently plucks the heartstrings, kindling palpable screen chemistry with Clifton Collins Jr, whose one-armed supplier of biohazard-removal supplies is a charming addition to the mix.

Blunt is similarly impressive, gradually revealing the grief behind Norah’s spikiness, and the rapport between the female leads drives the film to its life-affirming resolution.

Arkin essentially recycles his cantankerous old-timer from Little Miss Sunshine, which landed him an Academy Award.

If it ain’t broke, why fix it?

• Release Date: Friday 26 June 2009
• Certificate: 15
• Runtime: 91mins

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