Ah, Amy Adams. So cute, so tug-at-my-heartstrings good in this film. In the right role, Amy Adams can be very wonderful and charming. This was a good part for her, although I wasn't sure if I bought her attempt at playing a mother, but the point was made: Adams is playing a former head cheerleader whose life did not turn out at all like she had expected.
At the start of the film, Adams' character Rose is working a crummy job cleaning houses, sleeping with her married (but not to her obviously) ex-boyfriend and picking up her son from school where he has gotten into trouble yet again. She is not having a good time. By the end of the film, Rose doesn't have it all figured out but she has started to unravel the mess of her life and has found a job--the title's Sunshine Cleaning (for crime scenes). There are some people that I would have liked to have known more about, stories that were left untold, but overall I highly recommend Sunshine Cleaning. It is heartfelt and it means well, regardless of the fact that it smacks a bit of Hope Floats.
Julie and Julia:
Yet another film starring Amy Adams, Julie and Julia was, well, a bit of a disappointment on her part. First of all, let me say that Meryl Streep is amazing as Julia Child. Seriously, hands down. She made Julia Child--who I vaguely remember clicking past on the television (probably in repeats by then) as a child--interesting and fun. Who knew Julia Child was a feminist pioneer, in her own way? Who knew she and her husband had such a wonderful love and mutual respect for each other? Child's story is truly the pinnacle of this film. Honestly, it would almost be better viewing it at home so that you can fast forward through the Julie parts.
Granted, I see why they combined the two stories into one film--Julie is young, she's conventional and can reach a younger audience than Meryl Streep can. Young women can (supposedly) identify with her and with her desire to blog about cooking all of Julia Child's French recipes. However, I found her tiresome and whiney--and I'm really not that old! Amy Adams is aggravating in this role and the little tears that love to climb into the corners of her eyes, almost incessantly so, that worked so well in Sunshine Cleaning do not work the same magic in Julie and Julia. In fact, one often wonders why it is so necessary to boo-hoo constantly about life when, heck, her life's not so bad!
It's unfortunate because I really wanted to love Julie and Julia. However, I recommend a viewing, just be aware that you will love Julia but Julie will leave you basically annoyed.
9:
Last up is a great little film entitled simply 9. The story is taken a bit from the Matrix and the characters are basically cartoon cliches, but putting that aside as forgiven, visually the film is phenomenal and definitely worth watching. It is an intriguing topic that the film chooses to build around--what would earth be like without us--but one that I feel gets a bit lost in the excitement over an evil machine that is trying to kill off the cute and cuddly numbered self-animated puppets that are basically all that is left of humanity.
Check it out on the big screen if you can and see the visual effects properly! Just know that there are not a lot of surprises outside of the cool visuals in 9.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment--I would love to discuss!
