Watching this slow-moving, quietly painful film, I had two things at the back of my mine. One was my own mother's struggles as an educated but not very practical single mother decades ago and the other was a recent news item about a judge who took a Guatemalan immigrant's child away from her on the grounds that she had "abandoned" the child by... being arrested as an illegal immigrant. In other words, watching this woman struggle to take care of her daughter while making a series of bad decisions all along the way was also watching the real story of innumerable women, some like her, some not so much, who find it almost impossible to do the one thing they most want to do: take care of their children. It is painful to watch, not least because some of the women in this situation will make all manner of damaging decisions out of desperation and the film just shows some of the issues that can prompt that desperation: not getting child support, trying to work two jobs, unexpected expenses which are catastrophic on a tight income, etc. It is easy to get impatient with this character in a number of cases, but it is also clear that, in her own sloppy and ill-prepared way, she is trying; trying and often being thwarted. There is one central developing dilemma which gives the story something of a spine, but really overall we're left with the sense that, rather than being this woman's main story, it is one episode out of many in what will always be a life of uncertainty and limited choices. The film is shot in a gloomy, unadorned way with no background music or other overt cinematographic touches and so it is overall an unsparing experience. Echoing after it is the awareness that some women will triumph in similar situations, others will end up overwhelmed and making all manner of bad decisions - if a choice made when boxed into a corner can be called a decision.
10 Reviews
Lauren Ambrose Is Wonderful In A Very Sad & Very Sombre Movie
sddavis632 August 2013
For the most part (and, honestly, with very few emotionally redeeming qualities) this is a dismally sombre and even sad film. It's not a bad film. It's just dreadfully sad. I have to admit that I haven't seen very much of Lauren Ambrose since the end of "Six Feet Under." One thing I learned from "About Sunny" is that she's most definitely grown up. She put on a very powerful performance in this, as single mother Angela, struggling to make ends meet - and generally not succeeding very well - as she seeks to raise her daughter Sunny (played by a young actress named Audrey P. Scott.) This is a desperate situation. It's a classic example of being caught between a rock and a hard place. Angela has a job, but it doesn't pay well. Sunny has a learning disability (dyslexia?) but Angela has no resources to help her with it. She has to take a second job at night, meaning she leaves Sunny alone a lot. She's not getting child support from Sunny's father, she makes dreadful decisions as she becomes more and more desperate. The whole movie (which starts out on a pretty down note) just seems to be a downward spiral. The question is: downward from what? How much lower could it go?
I don't need to go into a lot of details, except to say that - again - this is a sombre and very sad movie. For most of its run time it doesn't really seem to be going anywhere, other than documenting Angela's struggles, but in the end Angela is faced with a gut-wrenching ethical dilemma. Without saying what it is, I'd say that as a viewer you're torn at the end. I think she made the right choice, but what does the future hold for her and Sunny? How will it get any better? Or are these two just on a one way trip to nowhere.
But - sadness aside - this is a good movie. Ambrose's performance is powerful and she draws you into Angela's life. You feel sorry for her. Perhaps none of this desperation is her fault, and you know that she wants to be a good mother to Sunny. Even when she lashes out, you know that it's out of frustration, and not because of any lack of love for her daughter.
With an interesting lead character, and a good performance form Lauren Ambrose in the role, this is definitely worth watching. It's just not a movie you'd want to watch on a day when you need a pick-me-up! (7/10)
I don't need to go into a lot of details, except to say that - again - this is a sombre and very sad movie. For most of its run time it doesn't really seem to be going anywhere, other than documenting Angela's struggles, but in the end Angela is faced with a gut-wrenching ethical dilemma. Without saying what it is, I'd say that as a viewer you're torn at the end. I think she made the right choice, but what does the future hold for her and Sunny? How will it get any better? Or are these two just on a one way trip to nowhere.
But - sadness aside - this is a good movie. Ambrose's performance is powerful and she draws you into Angela's life. You feel sorry for her. Perhaps none of this desperation is her fault, and you know that she wants to be a good mother to Sunny. Even when she lashes out, you know that it's out of frustration, and not because of any lack of love for her daughter.
With an interesting lead character, and a good performance form Lauren Ambrose in the role, this is definitely worth watching. It's just not a movie you'd want to watch on a day when you need a pick-me-up! (7/10)
Imperfect, and it's ground we've seen before, but very well done, especially by Ambrose
secondtake7 October 2013
About Sunny (2011)
A slice of life realistic story about a young mother and her daughter living on the edge of subsistence in Nevada. Lauren Ambrose (who was Claire in "Six Feet Under") is terrific, not overplaying a slightly hardened but still sympathetic character. The story is mostly about how things go a little bit wrong, not through stupidity (as in some movies like this where the leading female makes huge mistakes) but through some smaller misjudgments.
The daughter is terrific, too, and so we see a tension and tolerance in her relationship to her mom, who clearly loves her but is always a bit short on patience. The one real twist, which is a bit forced into the plot, is a relative of a co-worker who has some designs on the girl. This, too, is played with some subtlety, though the idea is just unlikely and sudden enough to force you to go along with it. It's not inevitable.
Even so this other plot is a small part of what really happens, with the growing feelings you have for the main two people. It's clearly a low budget indie film, and is produced by Ambrose, so you can see some smart attempts at moving her career forward. And she pulls it off with a heart wrenching, cinema-verite story that is maybe just a hair to close to the truth for many people to make it comfortable. How easy it is to watch more terrible tragedies (from "Goodfellas" to "Pulp Fiction") and how hard to see what might be true (here and in "Julia" which makes for a weird, imperfect parallel).
Surprisingly solid.
A slice of life realistic story about a young mother and her daughter living on the edge of subsistence in Nevada. Lauren Ambrose (who was Claire in "Six Feet Under") is terrific, not overplaying a slightly hardened but still sympathetic character. The story is mostly about how things go a little bit wrong, not through stupidity (as in some movies like this where the leading female makes huge mistakes) but through some smaller misjudgments.
The daughter is terrific, too, and so we see a tension and tolerance in her relationship to her mom, who clearly loves her but is always a bit short on patience. The one real twist, which is a bit forced into the plot, is a relative of a co-worker who has some designs on the girl. This, too, is played with some subtlety, though the idea is just unlikely and sudden enough to force you to go along with it. It's not inevitable.
Even so this other plot is a small part of what really happens, with the growing feelings you have for the main two people. It's clearly a low budget indie film, and is produced by Ambrose, so you can see some smart attempts at moving her career forward. And she pulls it off with a heart wrenching, cinema-verite story that is maybe just a hair to close to the truth for many people to make it comfortable. How easy it is to watch more terrible tragedies (from "Goodfellas" to "Pulp Fiction") and how hard to see what might be true (here and in "Julia" which makes for a weird, imperfect parallel).
Surprisingly solid.
Dark, Gloomy, and Disturbing
MrKaya3 January 2014
Warning: Spoilers
About Sunny moves quite slowly, yet at the same time gradually weaves a rather gloomy plot: In the outskirts of Las Vegas, a single mother repeatedly makes bad decisions that adversely affect her economic and psychological well-being. As the consequences of these bad decisions exacerbate her situation, she becomes even more desperate, and her misguided behavior escalates. In the process, things turn from bad to worse for her nine-year-old daughter who can hardly get the proper care she needs.
The movie successfully builds up the pressure with each small unpleasant incident, and in so doing, slowly incorporates the viewer into the depressive world that it depicts. That accomplishment renders About Sunny as one of these dark movies whose influence does not wear off shortly after the ending.
Serdar Kaya
The movie successfully builds up the pressure with each small unpleasant incident, and in so doing, slowly incorporates the viewer into the depressive world that it depicts. That accomplishment renders About Sunny as one of these dark movies whose influence does not wear off shortly after the ending.
Serdar Kaya
Hard to sit through portrait of empty vessel loner with bad parenting skills
Turfseer1 February 2012
Warning: Spoilers
'Think of Me' is a portrait of a young single Mom, 'Angela', (convincingly played by well-known stage actor Lauren Ambrose), and her nine year old daughter, 'Sunny' (starring the talented child actor, Audrey Scott, seen before in Disney's 'Secretariat'). The script and direction is by Bryan Wizemann, who has a few short films under his belt and is now tackling his second feature film since 2005.
Wizemann's basic strategy is to catalog the misdeeds of incompetent parent Angela, as she aimlessly attempts to stay afloat in present day Las Vegas with her daughter. Angela is sort of like a water downed version of Casey Anthony, a child-like narcissist who inflicts emotional rather than physical damage on her daughter, who suffers from learning disabilities.
In addition to the slow-moving plot, much of the film's verisimilitude is dependent on whether one believes in the plausibility of the central character. Angela is so much in her own world, that she doesn't recognize that she has problems. Certainly when it comes to Sunny, she's in big time denial regarding the fact that her daughter is unable to read. Her defensiveness on that point is believable, but I still had a difficult time believing that such a character would not stoop to pursuing grander illegal pursuits or in contrast, seek help from others, to support herself.
For example, at the beginning, Angela picks up a man at a strip joint and goes home and has sex with him. The scene is obviously designed to introduce us to the idea that Angela's actions are thoroughly narcissistic, since Sunny walks in on them afterward, exposing her to all the unseemliness. What's odd is that Angela is not a prostitute and merely asks the man for a $100 to help her out. This is the only time we see Angela having sex or having any dealings with men on a romantic or sexual level. It's odd that she never resorts to prostitution since she is so desperate for money. On the other hand, perhaps prostitution is one step below her moral code. You would think by trying to find a boyfriend, that would be a good strategy for Angela to lift herself out of her isolation. But that strategy never seems to occur to her.
When her boss at the telemarketing firm asks Angela to come in with him on a dubious investment scheme, she doesn't hesitate to have her ex-husband wire her $2,000 from her child support funds, which she promptly loses after some neighbors come over for Sunny's birthday party, and one of them presumably makes off with the money. Again, is she so obtuse that she would so easily get involved in such a scheme? Most people wouldn't—even those down on their luck would be a little bit skeptical; but then again, there are gullible people falling for scams all of the time.
While prostitution is out, Angela contemplates insurance fraud, by asking a young neighbor to dump her car, so she can file a bogus claim. Although she changes her mind, Angela goes through with finding a second job as a cleaning woman. The problem is that she ends up working in the same building as her first job and when her boss from the first job notices her cleaning inside the company offices, early in the morning, he (like the rest of us) find that awfully strange--and promptly sends her packing.
Perhaps the most alienating action we can attribute to Angela (in terms of alienating us as an audience), is her decision to drive out to a deserted area with Sunny and put the family dog out on the streets. From this point on, it's hard to have much sympathy for Angela, as we can see the devastating effect her decision has on Sunny.
The film's denouement mirrors Angela's decision to give up her dog. This time, however, it involves Sunny. Angela ends up getting involved with a co-worker from the telemarketing firm who has a side business involving illegal adoptions. He tells gullible Angela that his "sister" (Louise) is just down from Canada and will pay her $20,000 to take little Sunny off her hands. In perhaps the best scene in the film, Louise (after having met and bonded with Sunny a few times) calls on Angela at a motel and makes a bid to adopt her.
**SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD** Angela decides to give Sunny up but at the last minute, on a lonely stretch of highway, changes her mind. In one respect, we feel relieved, since it's a horrible thing for a mother to give up her child in such a way. But we feel equally horrible, since we know Sunny will be doomed to endure Angela's continual bad parenting for the unforeseeable future.
My ultimate question regarding 'Think of Me' is, "what is the point"? Angela scores few points as a sympathetic character so we can care little about her. Perhaps Wizemann's strategy is to shock—proffering a portrait of a young woman as empty vessel. Can it be that a woman whose soul is virtually blank, can do as much damage as the parent who's guilty of physically abusing their child?
'Think of Me' often proceeds slowly in a cinema-verité style. Lauren Ambrose does well in conveying Angela's selfishness but I kept asking what are the protagonist's motivations. Perhaps the point is that there are no motivations—she acts that way simply because that's the way she is. The protagonist feels like an anomaly precisely because she has no goals like most normal people do. Can anybody be so naïve, gullible, narcissistic and nasty at the same time? Perhaps Mr. Wizemann will argue that there are people out there like Angela. Actually, I'm not so sure. But even if there are, I'm not so sure why I should really care.
Wizemann's basic strategy is to catalog the misdeeds of incompetent parent Angela, as she aimlessly attempts to stay afloat in present day Las Vegas with her daughter. Angela is sort of like a water downed version of Casey Anthony, a child-like narcissist who inflicts emotional rather than physical damage on her daughter, who suffers from learning disabilities.
In addition to the slow-moving plot, much of the film's verisimilitude is dependent on whether one believes in the plausibility of the central character. Angela is so much in her own world, that she doesn't recognize that she has problems. Certainly when it comes to Sunny, she's in big time denial regarding the fact that her daughter is unable to read. Her defensiveness on that point is believable, but I still had a difficult time believing that such a character would not stoop to pursuing grander illegal pursuits or in contrast, seek help from others, to support herself.
For example, at the beginning, Angela picks up a man at a strip joint and goes home and has sex with him. The scene is obviously designed to introduce us to the idea that Angela's actions are thoroughly narcissistic, since Sunny walks in on them afterward, exposing her to all the unseemliness. What's odd is that Angela is not a prostitute and merely asks the man for a $100 to help her out. This is the only time we see Angela having sex or having any dealings with men on a romantic or sexual level. It's odd that she never resorts to prostitution since she is so desperate for money. On the other hand, perhaps prostitution is one step below her moral code. You would think by trying to find a boyfriend, that would be a good strategy for Angela to lift herself out of her isolation. But that strategy never seems to occur to her.
When her boss at the telemarketing firm asks Angela to come in with him on a dubious investment scheme, she doesn't hesitate to have her ex-husband wire her $2,000 from her child support funds, which she promptly loses after some neighbors come over for Sunny's birthday party, and one of them presumably makes off with the money. Again, is she so obtuse that she would so easily get involved in such a scheme? Most people wouldn't—even those down on their luck would be a little bit skeptical; but then again, there are gullible people falling for scams all of the time.
While prostitution is out, Angela contemplates insurance fraud, by asking a young neighbor to dump her car, so she can file a bogus claim. Although she changes her mind, Angela goes through with finding a second job as a cleaning woman. The problem is that she ends up working in the same building as her first job and when her boss from the first job notices her cleaning inside the company offices, early in the morning, he (like the rest of us) find that awfully strange--and promptly sends her packing.
Perhaps the most alienating action we can attribute to Angela (in terms of alienating us as an audience), is her decision to drive out to a deserted area with Sunny and put the family dog out on the streets. From this point on, it's hard to have much sympathy for Angela, as we can see the devastating effect her decision has on Sunny.
The film's denouement mirrors Angela's decision to give up her dog. This time, however, it involves Sunny. Angela ends up getting involved with a co-worker from the telemarketing firm who has a side business involving illegal adoptions. He tells gullible Angela that his "sister" (Louise) is just down from Canada and will pay her $20,000 to take little Sunny off her hands. In perhaps the best scene in the film, Louise (after having met and bonded with Sunny a few times) calls on Angela at a motel and makes a bid to adopt her.
**SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD** Angela decides to give Sunny up but at the last minute, on a lonely stretch of highway, changes her mind. In one respect, we feel relieved, since it's a horrible thing for a mother to give up her child in such a way. But we feel equally horrible, since we know Sunny will be doomed to endure Angela's continual bad parenting for the unforeseeable future.
My ultimate question regarding 'Think of Me' is, "what is the point"? Angela scores few points as a sympathetic character so we can care little about her. Perhaps Wizemann's strategy is to shock—proffering a portrait of a young woman as empty vessel. Can it be that a woman whose soul is virtually blank, can do as much damage as the parent who's guilty of physically abusing their child?
'Think of Me' often proceeds slowly in a cinema-verité style. Lauren Ambrose does well in conveying Angela's selfishness but I kept asking what are the protagonist's motivations. Perhaps the point is that there are no motivations—she acts that way simply because that's the way she is. The protagonist feels like an anomaly precisely because she has no goals like most normal people do. Can anybody be so naïve, gullible, narcissistic and nasty at the same time? Perhaps Mr. Wizemann will argue that there are people out there like Angela. Actually, I'm not so sure. But even if there are, I'm not so sure why I should really care.
beautiful
christina_parisi15 May 2012
This is a beautiful film. Thoughtful, poignant, honest, raw and real. We need more films like this. I will admit, I only watched it because I am a fan of Lauren Ambrose because of her work in "Six Feet Under" but once I started it, the film itself completely took me by surprise. Ambrose is once again a wonderful actor with her subtle yet real performance. It is amazing she doesn't work more but then it's nice she isn't over-exposed. But that said, the script, direction, music and camera work reeled me into this world and I found myself truly mesmerized. As someone who does not enjoy the sequels and remakes saturating the film world today, watching something like this reminded me of why I love film. Bravo, to all involved. This is a work of art (which is probably why no one has heard of it.) Ah... someday, I hope, that will change. With films like this, perhaps it will be sooner than later.
A Depressing Saga
pegasus326 March 2017
A most depressing saga which examines the minutiae in the bleak life of a sad and pathetic woman who abuses not only herself but especially her young child. It's difficult to fathom whether or not the film might be attempting to romanticize in some sort of bizarre manner such a degrading existence as it offers no resolution but rather leaves the viewer wondering, as the film concludes, whether or not these two lives will continue to spiral down their seeming path toward self-destruction. And while the cast puts in creditable performances, they fail to overshadow the grim situation portrayed nor are able to engender any real compassion for the characters by holding out any possibility for some sort of positive resolution.
Excellent acting and heartbreaking
tigerandcamille26 October 2013
This movie was realistic and not sugar coated. It's about a single mother's struggle to take care of her child, trying to earn a respectable living. There are scenes that make you wonder if she has always done that or is considering taking an easier, quick money route but she continues to work low paying mainstream jobs. She tries her best to be a good mother and take care of her daughter, despite her fears and frustrations.
Some people may find it easy to judge this woman, when she starts to breakdown. Her character does some things that may seem unsympathetic but strongly comes through as a real person. She is on her own, with no one to help her and does love her child.
The little girl's acting is the best I have ever seen for a child actor. She doesn't go over the top with coaching and doesn't even seem like she is acting.
Some people may find it easy to judge this woman, when she starts to breakdown. Her character does some things that may seem unsympathetic but strongly comes through as a real person. She is on her own, with no one to help her and does love her child.
The little girl's acting is the best I have ever seen for a child actor. She doesn't go over the top with coaching and doesn't even seem like she is acting.
Decent Yet Flawed.....One Cigarette Too Far
mcjensen-0592412 August 2023
Okay, we get it. She smokes!! There's no need to show her sucking deeply on a cigarette every two minutes. It kinda gets tedious after a while, but whatever. Not a deal breaker. Tight budget? Fine! Let's eat out all the time and hire cars to take us to the end of the block. Huh? Our lead is covincing for the most part, but then she lapses into some ridiculous and irrational break from character that derails the momentum. But she's clearly a tremendous talent and a very beautiful woman. A few supporting cast members ring exceptionally abusrd. But her desperation comes across as genuine. People simply do not impost themselves to virtual strangers in ths manner. Not giving specifics to avoid spoilers so hope you understand. The daughter? Kind of an ungracious snot most of the time and not what you'd call an endearing child. And like so many movies, the makers of this movie never miss an opportunity to slip in the obligatory black characters. Again, not a deal breaker but it happened enough that I noticed. This movie somehow seemed twice as long as it actually was. Our lead actress eventually reveals herself to just be an awful person. Awful! She does these horrible things that aren't necessary in the least. With a half hour to go I'd had enough. The storyline unravels from here on out, unfortunately. Too much to endure but I slogged through to the pathetic conclusion. Far too many closeup shots of people eating. That's absolutely disgusting. We know people eat. Everyone eats. We don't need to see it and we definitely don't need to hear it.
Confused by the reviews here...
FishBibble6 October 2019
It seems some people are rating the movie based on what they think of the mother. And in doing so completely miss the point of the film.
Clearly it is a film that doesn't use the usual music, or other goto's to make the mother seen 'romanticized' etc, purposely drawing light to the cold stark problems with the situations the kid is put through, and yet people upon seeing that the child is put into bad situation time and time again, and as a result they rate the movie poorly.
Poverty is about the lack of choice, poverty is about not having had role models in their lives to show them what good choices look like, poverty is about lack of education to help figure out better decisions, it is about never had opportunities to again gain a practical perspective, and poverty is often about mental health issues, about cooping mechanisms that seem to solve an immediate issue, but cause more problems long term, and poverty is about being looked upon with distaste, and judgement from people who care more about punishment than helping people. The people rating this film poorly because they dislike the mother or the situation for the child are completely missing the entire point of the film which is to draw awareness to the way that these situations often unravel in real life, this film does a great job portraying the complications, and the frustrations around these issues. And it clearly once again showed that people would rather punish the parent and the child along with them, then help them out of the situation, feeling somehow that 'they would get one over on them' if they didnt' suffer because of the parents choices. The parent was making horrible decisions, but she clearly loved her child, and by the attitude of anger and distaste for the mother, the child will often get sent from a mother who clearly is above all else, deeply protective and loving of her child, and then these same people criticizing the film will not bat an eyelash as CPS comes in and the child ends up in an abusive household for the child, recreating now an even worse perpetual cycle of poverty and now abuse. The end determination of what should happen in these situations, is instead of the state spending money to give to a foster family, they should determine that if there is no sign of physical abuse, and it is clear the mother for instance is deeply protective and wants the best for their kid, the solution at worst is find a way to help the mother get on her feet again, as long as they are not drug addicts, that is the best possible outcome. Enough with the judgements on the parent(s) that end up screwing a kid for life. Stop judging, that doesnt' help solve the issue, and start figuring out how to make that kids life better, and if the mother gets to make bad decisions and still end up being able to provide shelter and food for her kid, honestly, the world is better off for it. Tired of the hate, and anger, that ends up just making the kids in these situations live horrendous lives, and the people forcing that to happen pretend it is the parents fault entirely, when they are supporting a state that is pushing the foster home above a loving but flawed parent.
Clearly it is a film that doesn't use the usual music, or other goto's to make the mother seen 'romanticized' etc, purposely drawing light to the cold stark problems with the situations the kid is put through, and yet people upon seeing that the child is put into bad situation time and time again, and as a result they rate the movie poorly.
Poverty is about the lack of choice, poverty is about not having had role models in their lives to show them what good choices look like, poverty is about lack of education to help figure out better decisions, it is about never had opportunities to again gain a practical perspective, and poverty is often about mental health issues, about cooping mechanisms that seem to solve an immediate issue, but cause more problems long term, and poverty is about being looked upon with distaste, and judgement from people who care more about punishment than helping people. The people rating this film poorly because they dislike the mother or the situation for the child are completely missing the entire point of the film which is to draw awareness to the way that these situations often unravel in real life, this film does a great job portraying the complications, and the frustrations around these issues. And it clearly once again showed that people would rather punish the parent and the child along with them, then help them out of the situation, feeling somehow that 'they would get one over on them' if they didnt' suffer because of the parents choices. The parent was making horrible decisions, but she clearly loved her child, and by the attitude of anger and distaste for the mother, the child will often get sent from a mother who clearly is above all else, deeply protective and loving of her child, and then these same people criticizing the film will not bat an eyelash as CPS comes in and the child ends up in an abusive household for the child, recreating now an even worse perpetual cycle of poverty and now abuse. The end determination of what should happen in these situations, is instead of the state spending money to give to a foster family, they should determine that if there is no sign of physical abuse, and it is clear the mother for instance is deeply protective and wants the best for their kid, the solution at worst is find a way to help the mother get on her feet again, as long as they are not drug addicts, that is the best possible outcome. Enough with the judgements on the parent(s) that end up screwing a kid for life. Stop judging, that doesnt' help solve the issue, and start figuring out how to make that kids life better, and if the mother gets to make bad decisions and still end up being able to provide shelter and food for her kid, honestly, the world is better off for it. Tired of the hate, and anger, that ends up just making the kids in these situations live horrendous lives, and the people forcing that to happen pretend it is the parents fault entirely, when they are supporting a state that is pushing the foster home above a loving but flawed parent.
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