Sunshine State Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)June 19th, 2002
SUNSHINE STATE
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2002 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
For SUNSHINE STATE, writer/director John Sayles (LONE STAR) has assembled a large and talented cast, but, although the acting is good and the filming is nice, the movie offers little that is memorable or compelling. Watching it is rather like an overlong visit from a large group of your relatives. As your relatives swap one mundane story after another, you begin to wonder if they are ever going to depart. You love them so you don't want to ask them to leave, but you hope that checking your watch frequently will give me them suitable hints.
So many stories, so much time.
The central theme of the plot concerns a group of developers who are buying up Florida real estate. Having trouble simply saying no, the property owners, led by Dr. Lloyd (Bill Cobbs), band together in protest movements to stop the greedy carpetbaggers from stealing their land.
Most of the movie, however, is filled with little episodes like the ones involving Marly Temple (Edie Falco, who plays Carmela Soprano on "The Sopranos"), a motel manager whose nearly blind father owns the place. After falling out of love with a wannabe PGA golfer, she hooks up with Jack Meadows (Timothy Hutton). Jack, the story takes pains to explain, is one of the few good developers. He doesn't cheat people out of their homes. He is just involved in the designs of the new ones after the old ones have been
bulldozed.
Using a both-sides-of the-track theme, Sayles cuts frequently from the white section of town to the black. Desiree Perry (Angela Bassett), a successful black woman who makes her living doing infomercials, has returned to see the mother whom she abandoned many years ago. There is a small secret about why Desiree left town when she was only 15, but you'll quickly guess it.
I couldn't recommend SUNSHINE STATE to anyone, save Sayles's fans, like me, who wouldn't dream of missing any of his pictures. This one is the least of his movies, but it does have a few choice lines. My favorite comes from Marly, who remarks, "The important thing is to keep that smile on your face, even if you're drowning." Although she is talking about her old job as an underwater mermaid, the quote obviously has a much wider application.
SUNSHINE STATE runs way too long at 2:21. It is rated PG-13 for "brief strong language, a sexual reference and thematic elements" and would be acceptable for kids around 10 and up, although they will likely be bored.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, June 28, 2002. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the Camera Cinemas and the Landmark Theaters.
Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
Email: [email protected]
***********************************************************************
Want free reviews and weekly movie and video recommendations via Email?
Just send me a letter with the word "subscribe" in the subject line.
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
