Sunshine State

John Sayles, USA, 2002, 141 minutes

From the Director of Lone Star and Limbo, comes Sunshine State a story about a rundown Florida resort which unscrupulous real estate tycoons are trying to gentrify it, and pick up the land for cheap, to make a quick buck.

The heroine of the story is a hard drinking motel owner (Edie Falco – Mrs Cosa Nostra of the Sopranos) whose property seems to be the cornerstone of the new development, who gives a superb performance. Our heroine is torn between getting rid of the family motel which she feels is a millstone around her neck and the wishes of her father (Ralph Waite) who she inherited it from, and who sees it as a family heirloom to be passed down the generations.

The film has multiple strands running through from Angela Bassett as the failed actress returning to her home town, Mary Steenburgen as the Tourism co-ordinator trying to “build a sense of tradition” to the town, to her debt laden gambler husband (Gordon Clapp) who is taking bribes from the property tycoons and seems to spend the majority of the film trying unsuccessfully to kill himself (if you were married to Mary Steenburgen … aoh – stop that now, that’s just nasty!!).

Some of the dialogue is mindboggling, especially Falco’s “novocaine” sexual experiences (!) but also clever and beautifully written At a whopping 141 minutes it is not short (are Sayles films ever short?) and viewers might find it closer to City of Hope than Lone Star , but it is still an entertaining and thought provoking two hours that makes the viewer come out of the movie feeling richer for the experience.

Review by Stephen Brennan
Written for EUFS Programme Spring 2003