Sunshine State
Review by Clint Morris
 Although
I much preferred his last film Limbo, John Sayle's
latest film as director, writer and editor, Sunshine State,
is supplementary proof one of America's most esteemed filmmakers
can still cut a decent feature.
An ensemble piece featuring a cast of casts, Sunshine
State centres on the residents of a small coastal town,
all suddenly invaded by green-eyed property developers.
In a short prologue, an industrialist named Murray Sliver
(Alan King) delivers a monologue about the packaging and selling
of Florida as the American retiree's dream - warm temperatures,
beautiful beaches, and many golf courses.
Seems Florida is being misshapen into something more gainful
by developers, and it's going to impinge on the locals in
their own ways.
There are the Stokes, and the Temples, two local families
about to be mutated thanks to the arrival of developers and
some bonus surprises.
Intertwined with several sub-plots – one involving a
former local returning home to her long suffering mother,
and another about a local motel owner falling for a developer
– Sunshine State is quite a mixed bag.
It's far from Sayle's best work, but what makes this film
so much better than it probably could have been in someone
else's hands, is that the director gives each and every character
‘heart’. They're all extremely fleshed out, well
written and, importantly I suppose, well performed. Edie Falco
and Angela Bassett are especially effective.
While it's slightly bogged in narrative and probably too
long in duration for it's own good, Sunshine State
still manages to be a comparatively fresh look at the Florida
lifestyle, while serving up some realistically fascinating
characters to guide the tour.
3 out of 5
Sunshine State
Australian release: Thursday October 24 (Art House cinemas
only)
Cast: Angela Bassett, Edie Falco, James McDaniel, Ralph Waite,
Richard Edson, Miguel Ferrer, Timothy Hutton, Mary Steenburgen,
Jane Alexander, Gordon Clapp, Mary Alice, Bill Cobbs, Tom
Wright, Alan King.
Director: John Sayle.
Website: Click
here
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