Sunshine State

Rating:
Summary: A too long and overly populated soap
Review: Perhaps SUNSHINE STATE is best seen as an afternoon matinee. Towards the end of an evening screening on a "school night", I was surreptitiously checking my watch and thinking, "Gee, and I have to get up early tomorrow, too."

The locale of the storyline is a Florida coastal island, and specifically in two neighboring settlements: Delrona Beach, harboring WASPish types, and Lincoln Beach, originally founded as a Black enclave. Now, a rapacious land development company is coveting both.

There's a veritable swarm of players in this sun-drenched soap. Foremost is Desiree (Angela Bassett), down from Boston with her M.D. husband Reggie to visit her estranged Mom, Eunice (Mary Alice), residing in Lincoln Beach. Also in town and working at a car dealership is former university football star and Heisman Trophy almost-winner "Flash" Phillips. Desiree and Flash have a "past". Living with Eunice is one of Desiree's cousins, Terrell, who plays with matches. Eunice has an aging friend, Dr. Lloyd, who's something of a social activist. Over in Delrona Beach, Marly (Edie Falco) is sick to death of running her father's motel and café for her aging and blind Ol' Dad, Furman (Ralph Waite). Marly, divorced from Steve, wallows in alcoholic escapism while seeking fulfillment from a series of boyfriends, the last being golf pro wannabe Scotty, and the current one being the landscape architect (Timothy Hutton) working for the evil land developer. Meanwhile, Marly's mother, Delia, manages the town's non-profit live-stage theater and mentors local "problem children". Toiling in the background is Francine (Mary Steenburgen), a Chamber of Commerce warrior thanklessly tasked with promoting the lukewarm Buccaneer Days annual celebration. Francine is totally oblivious to the fact that her suicidal husband Earl has a gambling problem. To Francine, Earl is the "rock" that she relies upon. And, if all these subplots weren't enough, the camera occasionally cuts to several guys playing golf, the most vocal of which, Murray (Alan King), regales his buddies and the viewing audience with ostensibly clever comments on the value of bringing nature under control, as in building more golf courses. Murray's observations may cause you to crack a smile before you immediately forget them.

SUNSHINE STATE has two potentially interesting foci of personal interaction in Desiree's relationship with Eunice and Marly's with Furman. However, both subplots are buried under an excess of characters, many of which were better off left on the cutting room floor: specifically Terrel, Flash, Dr. Lloyd, Steve, Scotty, Francine, Earl, and Murray et al. Indeed, the underlying land grabbing theme, perhaps an environmental statement by politically correct producers, could also have been edited from the final release and it wouldn't have made much difference. Certain sacrifices needed to be made to reduce the run time to less than its two hours plus.

Both Bassett and Falco are effective in their respective characters, though every time Marly appeared on-screen I didn't know whether to giggle or yell "Do something with that hair!" Her do was, I guess, conceived by Make-up to give her a weary and beaten-down look. It just made her look goofy. And I did enjoy Ralph Waite's character. I'd always wondered where John Walton, Sr. had retired in curmudgeonly old age.

Rating:
Summary: Low key with clever dialog in a modern witty story
Review: Set in Florida, this somewhat offbeat film was directed by John Sayles. At first it seems like another one of those "big business versus the little guy" films because the central theme is about a land developer wanting to buy the homes and businesses of the local population. Also, as one section of the beach is where aspiring black families built their homes years before, it seems like it might have a racial theme. But times have changed, and so have the movies. There's more to this story than age-old conflicts. There are the real issues about dreams of parents not necessarily being the dreams of the children.

For example, take Edie Falco, cast as the daughter of a motel owner. Her father is half blind and aging; her mother, Jane Alexander, is a flaky drama teacher who turns out to be quite an astute businesswoman. Edie has had a failed marriage, hates the motel and would like to sell out. She's tired of her life in which her most cherished success was working as a swimming mermaid in a tank in a restaurant. "The important thing was to keep a smile on your face, even while you're drowning," she says to Tim Hutton, an architect for the development, who dreams of creating beautiful landscapes.

Then there's Angela Basset and her husband James McDaniel. She's been away for 25 years because her mother, Eunice Stokes, sent her away when she was 15. This trip home opens old wounds, as the former football star who made her pregnant is now an unsuccessful car salesman who is exploiting his heritage to make buck. There's also a young troubled cousin who she tries to help.

In the meantime, the town is having a pageant and Mary Steenburger is in charge. And Alan King and a couple of cronies appear from time to time playing golf and making jokes. There's even a work gang of white rednecks who work side by side with a Seminole Indian who knows how to talk back to them. There's a lot going on in the film. Some of it quite subliminal.

The acting was uniformly good, but not outstanding. Mostly, because there were so many characters that no one particularly stood out. The writing was good enough to keep the plot moving and I wasn't confused about their complex relationships at any time. The best parts of the film though were the clever lines, which were constant and added a little "ting" to the story. The film was 141 minutes long, and even though I wasn't bored, I would have liked to push it along during the slow parts. And some of it was a little too low key for my taste because I tend to like more high drama and action.

Sunshine State is modern, witty and allegorical. I found it pleasant to watch I do recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Low key with clever dialog in a modern witty story
Review: Set in Florida, this somewhat offbeat film was directed by John Sayles. At first it seems like another one of those "big business versus the little guy" films because the central theme is about a land developer wanting to buy the homes and businesses of the local population. Also, as one section of the beach is where aspiring black families built their homes years before, it seems like it might have a racial theme. But times have changed, and so have the movies. There's more to this story than age-old conflicts. There are the real issues about dreams of parents not necessarily being the dreams of the children.

For example, take Edie Falco, cast as the daughter of a motel owner. Her father is half blind and aging; her mother, Jane Alexander, is a flaky drama teacher who turns out to be quite an astute businesswoman. Edie has had a failed marriage, hates the motel and would like to sell out. She's tired of her life in which her most cherished success was working as a swimming mermaid in a tank in a restaurant. "The important thing was to keep a smile on your face, even while you're drowning," she says to Tim Hutton, an architect for the development, who dreams of creating beautiful landscapes.

Then there's Angela Basset and her husband James McDaniel. She's been away for 25 years because her mother, Eunice Stokes, sent her away when she was 15. This trip home opens old wounds, as the former football star who made her pregnant is now an unsuccessful car salesman who is exploiting his heritage to make buck. There's also a young troubled cousin who she tries to help.

In the meantime, the town is having a pageant and Mary Steenburger is in charge. And Alan King and a couple of cronies appear from time to time playing golf and making jokes. There's even a work gang of white rednecks who work side by side with a Seminole Indian who knows how to talk back to them. There's a lot going on in the film. Some of it quite subliminal.

The acting was uniformly good, but not outstanding. Mostly, because there were so many characters that no one particularly stood out. The writing was good enough to keep the plot moving and I wasn't confused about their complex relationships at any time. The best parts of the film though were the clever lines, which were constant and added a little "ting" to the story. The film was 141 minutes long, and even though I wasn't bored, I would have liked to push it along during the slow parts. And some of it was a little too low key for my taste because I tend to like more high drama and action.

Sunshine State is modern, witty and allegorical. I found it pleasant to watch I do recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly my new favorite movie
Review: There are so many elements going on in this movie, it's hard to focus on which ones stand out the most.

First and foremost, as a Florida resident for 25 years, he nails the sleepy ocean-front atmosphere. The characters in relation to the land, their struggles with local government and big-time developers are utterly believable and accurately portrayed. The sense of community is delivered admirably with looks into the lives of a wide-range of citizens.

The characters are (for the most part) subtly woven together, no matter how disparate they initially appear. Marly, portrayed by Edie Falco, is my favorite. She's a not-quite-bitter-divorcee who has taken over the family's restaraunt/hotel business. A former Wikki Wachi (sp?) mermaid, this is *not* what she wants to do with her life. But because nothing better has come along, she stays and keeps her father happy.

Rather than one main plot, there are several sub-plots throughout the film. Desiree (Angela Bassett) reconciling herself with her mother and her past. Marly deciding what she wants and what she doesn't want. Exley (sp?) Plantation trying to buy out the town. Dr. Lloyd trying desperately to save the town. Mrs. Stokes wanting to save Terrell, or, at the least, redeem him. Jack just doing his job. Francine running the annual Buckaneer Day. Delia Temple making the best of her situation. Earl trying to kill himself. And the Florida Flash, whom no one really knows what it is he's doing back in town. All of this tied up neatly with four golfers, musing on the nature of the land.

It's a glorious movie. I've watched it four times already, and plan to watch it many more.

Rating:
Summary: Great characters, good film
Review: This film has more real, three dimensional characters than two or three normal films, played by actors who are familiar and very good, but not stars. The main characters are probably Marly Temple (Edie Falco from "The Sopranos") and Desiree Perry (Angela Bassett from "How Stella Got Her Groove Back"). Marly runs the family business, a motel and coffee shop next to the Florida coast in the small town where this film takes place, but prefers to delegate as much of the actual operation as possible. Her father (Ralph Waite from "The Waltons"), who started the business, is mostly blind, and her mother (Jane Alexander from "Testament") teaches drama.

Meanwhile Desiree has returned home for a visit with her new anesthesiologist husband (James McDaniel from "NYPD Blue") after leaving town suddenly as a teenager, although about 18 years ago she did come back for one day for her father's funeral. She was interested in acting long ago, but has only found success making infomercials. Her mother (Mary Alice) still lives in town and is raising a teenage boy, who we see in the opening shot setting fire to what appears to be a sailing ship.

The town is in the midst of Buccaneer Days, a small town event organized by Francine Pickney (Mary Steenburgen), with some help from her depressed husband (Gordon Clapp from "NYPD Blue").

The outside influence is provided by some developers, who are in town to break ground on a project and to attempt to buy up some additional property by whatever means possible. The main character among them is Jack Meadows (Timothy Hutton from "Ordinary People"), who gets to know Marly. The opposition to the developers is primarily organized by Dr. Lloyd (Bill Cobbs).

All of the above characters and more who I haven't even mentioned are very good and interesting, as are the performances by the actors playing them and the dialog they are given to speak. The only false note I can recall was by the chairperson of the city council, who only appeared in one scene.

The film was written, directed, and edited by John Sayles, whose previous work I have been negligent about seeing, except for "Lone Star." I absolutely loved this film until maybe three quarters of the way through, when it seemed to start to drag a bit. I started to wonder if it was ever going to go anywhere, and while it did reveal a few mysteries, it really didn't, at least for me. That said, the film is still so much better than almost anything else you could see.

Seen on 6/28/2002.

Rating:
Summary: More than It Seems
Review: This is so much more than a movie about real-estate developers moving into a sleepy coastal community in Florida, despite how it appears at the beginning. It is about the lives and dreams of those who live there; about those who have left and returned; and those who have never left, but want to. It is about dreams: dreams of individuals and dreams held by parents for their children. "Sunshine State" has a unique perspective.

Sayles examines each of his characters with great affection, it seems. No one is all-good or all-bad.....there is a lot of "middle of the road" here, mostly decent people. He lovingly develops his characters slowly and thoughtfully, and never judges these folks, no matter what they decide to do or not do.

The slow, but never boring, pace of this movie allows the viewer to get involved in the lives of its characters, all of whom are played to perfection by fairly high-profile actors (Angela Bassett, Edir Falco, Timothy Hutton, Mary Steenburgen, and Alan King, among others). The narrative is told in ovelapping stories with an intersection of most of its characters as conflicts unfold in the community.

This movie left me with a lot to think about.