"Spend a lot of time worrying about a day coming, and when it does, it ain't so bad." - Furman Temple, SUNSHINE STATE, 2002
So says Ralph Waite's character to daughter Edie Falco in just one of the poignant, sincere moments in John Sayle's SUNSHINE STATE.
I have never been a fan of John Sayles, feeling that he uses quirkiness for filmmaking, but it seems that with each film he makes he gets closer to making the "masterpiece" that will be his crowning achievement. This time I feel that he did it, with the warm and pleasant and strongly cast SUNSHINE STATE.
My favorite film is NASHVILLE, and I saw many comparisons in that 1975 over-looked classic, from the eclectic cast (Edie Falco should be on a postage stamp, not once do you even think of Carmela), detached yet Babbit-like view of southern life, to the sly way that people weave through each others lives. Where politics was at the heart of the Altman film, real estate is the centerpiece of Sayle's beachfront story.
It was nice to see Jane Alexander (the American Maggie Smith) and Ralph Waite as strong characters in performances that will hopefully be remembered during reward season. Mary Steenburgen's character alone was enough for an entire movie. As a life-long southerner, I know that her character exists, and I have often wondered what they would be like when they are no longer "on". After so many films in which Southerners are seen as eccentric backwater children, it is nice to see us portrayed as three-dimensional people who do more than drink Coke out of bottles or act noble at the slightest hesitation.
I jest in my header that this is NASHVILLE on de-caf. That's not a bad thing. Sayles' SUNSHINE STATE updates Altman's vision of mankind by 25 years and still sees the same pains and jealousies that existed back then, but makes the film his own with his unique vision and luscious, deep texture.
So says Ralph Waite's character to daughter Edie Falco in just one of the poignant, sincere moments in John Sayle's SUNSHINE STATE.
I have never been a fan of John Sayles, feeling that he uses quirkiness for filmmaking, but it seems that with each film he makes he gets closer to making the "masterpiece" that will be his crowning achievement. This time I feel that he did it, with the warm and pleasant and strongly cast SUNSHINE STATE.
My favorite film is NASHVILLE, and I saw many comparisons in that 1975 over-looked classic, from the eclectic cast (Edie Falco should be on a postage stamp, not once do you even think of Carmela), detached yet Babbit-like view of southern life, to the sly way that people weave through each others lives. Where politics was at the heart of the Altman film, real estate is the centerpiece of Sayle's beachfront story.
It was nice to see Jane Alexander (the American Maggie Smith) and Ralph Waite as strong characters in performances that will hopefully be remembered during reward season. Mary Steenburgen's character alone was enough for an entire movie. As a life-long southerner, I know that her character exists, and I have often wondered what they would be like when they are no longer "on". After so many films in which Southerners are seen as eccentric backwater children, it is nice to see us portrayed as three-dimensional people who do more than drink Coke out of bottles or act noble at the slightest hesitation.
I jest in my header that this is NASHVILLE on de-caf. That's not a bad thing. Sayles' SUNSHINE STATE updates Altman's vision of mankind by 25 years and still sees the same pains and jealousies that existed back then, but makes the film his own with his unique vision and luscious, deep texture.