Line #60 Film/SunshineCleaning


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/51r4eqqjodl.jpg]]
2
3	->''"We come into people's lives when they've experienced something profound and sad...and we help. In our own, small way, we help."''
4	-->-- '''Rose Lorkowsi'''
5
6	''Sunshine Cleaning'' is a 2008 {{Dramedy}} starring Creator/AmyAdams, Creator/EmilyBlunt and Creator/AlanArkin.
7
8	They play sisters Rose (Adams) and Norah (Blunt), both struggling for identity in a small town in New Mexico. Hoping to improve her finances - and get her sister working - Rose decides to start up a business where they clean up crime scenes after homicides. HilarityEnsues, but so does a lot of drama.
9	----
10	!!Tropes:
11
12	* AdorablyPrecociousChild: Oscar, Rose's son, is great at math and stuns his mother by adding up her finances. He also helps his grandfather out with sneaky business deals.
13	* AmbiguouslyBi: Norah and her friendship with Lynn. It's implied that Lynn is gay and interested in Norah, but Norah is the one who invites her out to do things. She's seen having sex with a random guy after Lynn makes something resembling a pass at her, so she clearly has some attraction to men.[[note]]The original script makes it clear that her attraction to Lynn is romantic in nature, and a kiss was filmed.[[/note]]
14	* AmbulanceChaser: A variation. Norah is seen finding one job by seeing a report about an accident on the news.
15	* AndStarring: Creator/AlanArkin gets the citation.
16	* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Rose views Norah as this due to their FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling dynamic.
17	* BabyTrap: Implied that this was the case with Mac and his wife Heather. Rose at one point asks "why did you pick Heather?" to which he responds "you know it wasn't like that" - suggesting Heather got pregnant and he married her for this reason.
18	* BigSisterInstinct: Implied that Rose had this for Norah growing up. Subverted towards the end of the film when Norah says she doesn't need Rose to take care of her.
19	* BlatantLies: Rose and Norah's father puts on a banner "since 1963"...for a business that's only just been started up. He tries to justify it as "a business lie".
20	* BrickJoke: Oscar is given a rub-on tattoo by Norah for his birthday that reads 'Lil Bastard'. [[spoiler: When he's in the school yard at the end he has the tattoo on his arm]].
21	* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: The one time Rose blows off a job to go to a baby shower [[spoiler: Norah accidentally burns the house down and ruins the business chances. To boot, Rose had been holding out on getting insurance until she was certified]].
22	* CerebusRetcon: It's a joke that the radio transmitter in the van can be used to talk "to the heavens", and Oscar frequently jokes about sending messages up there. In one sad scene towards the end, Rose talks on the radio to her dead mother.
23	* ChekhovsGag: Norah lights a candle to take away the smell from one scene. [[spoiler: She forgets to put it out and ends up burning the house down]].
24	* ChekhovsGun: Rose and Norah talk about a scene in a MadeForTVMovie their mother was a featured extra in that they never got the chance to see. [[spoiler: They finally see it towards the end]].
25	* ChekhovsHobby: Rose being a trained cleaning lady at the beginning makes her a good fit for Sunshine Cleaning.
26	* CoolAunt: Despite her flaws, Norah cares for Oscar greatly.
27	* CopBoyfriend: Mac to Rose.
28	%%* CringeComedy: The mattress scene.
29	* CuteKitten: One that Norah finds at a crime scene proves to be [[spoiler: an UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom]].
30	* DeadPersonConversation: As noted above, Rose stages one with her mother in the van near the end.
31	* DisappearedDad: Mac is Oscar's father, though they don't appear to have any relationship, since he keeps his connection to Oscar's mother Rose a secret as he's married to another woman.
32	* DrivenToSuicide:
33	** Early on, a man goes into a gun store and acts like he's going to buy a shotgun. After they get one out, the guy surreptitiously puts a shell in he brought, then kills himself with it.
34	** [[spoiler: When cleaning up after an elderly man's suicide, Rose and Norah are troubled by memories of their own mother's suicide]].
35	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Norah's first scenes feature the following - a) she sleeps in and has to be woken by her father, b) she causes an accident at work, and c) she walks out after a fight with her boss.
36	* FallenOnHardTimesJob: Deconstructed. The business starts out like this because Rose needs to make some fast money. Although disgusted by the work at first, Rose quickly comes to love it and realises it's her calling.
37	* FallenPrincess: Rose is a former head cheerleader and prom queen from high school who is now a cleaning lady and single mother - reduced to having an affair with her married high school boyfriend.
38	* FirstLawOfTragicomedies: While the film is a more light-hearted drama than comedy, any of the comedic parts vanish in the third act where [[spoiler: Rose calls off her affair with Mac, Norah and Lynn's budding relationship implodes and Sunshine Cleaning goes under]].
39	* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Norah is the foolish, unreliable younger sister. Rose is the responsible, reliable older sister.
40	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Norah and Rose are shown getting excited whenever a diner scene is shown on the TV. It's revealed that their mother got to be a featured extra in a TV movie and they never got to see her scene. [[spoiler: They finally see it towards the end]].
41	* GirlishPigtails: Norah is often seen with her hair in pigtails, presumably to show her immaturity.
42	* GoodBadGirl: Norah is definitely this, as her 'badness' amounts to laziness and some drinking. She's a good-hearted girl underneath it all.
43	* GoodLookingPrivates: Rose is having an affair with a cop. He frequently shows up at their motel room in uniform.
44	* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Norah is usually seen smoking or drinking, and takes Lynn to a seedy looking party.
45	* HarmfulToMinors: [[spoiler: Rose and Norah saw their mother's corpse after she committed suicide when they were children.]]
46	* HeroicBastard: Oscar is Rose's child with Mac, while the latter is married to someone else. At one point he asks Norah what a bastard is, having been called this by a classmate. She reassures him it's nothing which he should feel ashamed about. Oscar's a bit mischievous, but still a good kid.
47	* HideYourLesbians: Norah and Lynn's story was very obviously romantic in the original script - with a kiss filmed and [[spoiler: a scene where Norah begs Lynn to take her back]]. In the finished film it's left ambiguous as to whether Norah is interested in Lynn romantically or wanted a friend instead.
48	* ImpliedLoveInterest: There's definitely something between Rose and Winston, which Norah teases her about.
49	* JobTitle: 'Sunshine Cleaning' is a cleaning business.
50	* KindHeartedCatLover: Norah appears to be this, since she devotes special time to trying to catch a stray cat at one job. [[spoiler: She's shown to have the same cat with her as she leaves town at the end]].
51	* LettingHerHairDown:
52	** Rose wears her hair tied back for most of the film, only wearing it down when she meets Mac in their motel. The only other time she wears it down is for the baby shower - and she gets some ShipTease with Winston along the way too.
53	** Norah likewise only has her hair down in her scenes with Lynn, where she opens up about her past.
54	* LieBackAndThinkOfEngland: Norah is shown having meaningless sex that she gets no joy out of after Lynn makes advances on her at a party.
55	* TheLostLenore: Implied to be the case with the girls' mother. She died when they were children, their father hasn't remarried and he does seem a bit scatter-brained.
56	* MadonnaWhoreComplex: Rose laments that she falls victim to this.
57	--> "I'm good at getting guys to want me. Not date or marry me, but want me."
58	* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Subverted. Norah fits the requirements - quirky sense of fashion, rebellious attitude, encourages the uptight Lynn to loosen up a little. However the story is from Norah's perspective, the out there behavior stems from her mother's death and [[spoiler: Lynn breaks off their friendship once she finds out the truth]].
59	* MissingMom: Rose and Norah's died when they were children.
60	* TheMistress: Rose is in a long-term relationship with Mac, who's married to another woman. They even have a son together. She finally breaks up with him after realizing he's not going to leave his wife for her.
61	* MoneyDearBoy: In-universe, as Rose starts Sunshine Cleaning once she hears there's good money in it. Subverted eventually when she realises that she does love what she does.
62	* MoodWhiplash: While tressling, Norah initially appears to be having a lot of fun. Her scream of delight suddenly vanishes when [[spoiler: she flashes back to her mother's suicide]].
63	* MrFanservice: Mac is a handsome man, appearing both shirtless and with an IntimateOpenShirt at points.
64	* MsFanservice: Rose has a few {{lingerie scene}}s whenever she hooks up with Mac, and we're shown her changing into a dress for the baby shower. Said dress is also very flattering.
65	* OhCrap:
66	** Rose when she sees Mac and his wife Heather pulling up outside the same gas station.
67	** Norah when she realises [[spoiler: she started a house fire]].
68	* PrimalScene: A DeletedScene shows Oscar hearing his parents banging the shit out of each other.
69	* ScatterBrainedSenior: Rose and Norah's father, who is always trying to sell various products to anyone who will take them.
70	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere:
71	** Norah is introduced storming out of her job.
72	** Norah in the memorable scene when she accidentally falls face-first onto a mattress from a crime scene.
73	** [[spoiler: She ends the film deciding to take a road trip. The original script would show her getting a job at a gorilla reserve in Nevada]].
74	* SheCleansUpNicely: Downplayed but it's implied that Winston has this reaction when he sees Rose dressed up for the baby shower.
75	* ShipTease: Rose has some with Winston, a one-armed man in a supply store.
76	* SliceOfLife: Not a real plot, besides the two sisters starting the business. The film mainly follows their efforts to improve their lives in some way.
77	* SympatheticAdulterer: Rose is having an affair with her high school boyfriend, who is already married with a daughter. His wife is shown to be something of a shrew, making Mac seem somewhat sympathetic here, though refusing to leave her diminishes it since he's kept Rose and their son a secret for years (with no solid relationship because of this).
78	* TeamTitle: 'Sunshine Cleaning' becomes the name of Rose and Norah's business.
79	* TrailersAlwaysLie: The trailer made the movie look a comedy that was more about Rose and Norah getting into wacky hijinx at the various crime scenes. While there is some comedy in there, the film is instead more of a SliceOfLife and character study, and not as light-hearted as the trailers would have you believe.
80	* TroubledBackStoryFlashback: [[spoiler: One night Norah is prompted to flash back to the day of her mother's suicide]].
81	* UptightLovesWild: Seems to be the reason why Lynn hangs out with Norah. The latter even tries to get her to sit under moving trains for fun.
82	* WasItAllALie: [[spoiler: Lynn asks as much when Norah reveals how she knows her]].
83	* WhatNowEnding: The film ends quite openly [[spoiler: with Norah deciding to take a road trip, and Rose and her father trying to restart the cleaning business]].

Context Film / SunshineCleaning