Sunshine State

Where Robert Altman wields gigantic casts like a battering ram, bombarding audiences with overlapping dialogue and showing off with tricksy camerawork, John Sayles draws us in to his richly observant tales by keeping things simple. He is a fine storyteller.

Sunshine State is a perfect example of why Sayles' laid-back approach works so well. This is a flowing, intriguing character study with a wry script delivered by a uniformly excellent and ego-free cast.

There is little by way of drama here, just a snapshot of a beachtown community in which lives frequently change but whose heart stays the same. Sit back and soak up the atmosphere.

SUNSHINE STATE is about Big Ideas. Grief, it even has a Greek chorus to comment on the action- how's that for being self-important! But since these ideas are delivered in such a heavy-handed way, it's oddly like watching a pageant put on by a civics class at Beverly Hills High School.

The story deals with a small town in Florida where real-estate developers are threatening to change the way of life. Other than the beach, the town doesn't have much going for it. Characters talk a lot about how they either got out or wish they had gotten out. There's a local pirate festival that nobody but the stressed-out lady who's ramrodding it seems to care about. But for some reason this mosquito infested area is supposed to inspire developers to want to spend wads and wads of money turning it into a hot tourist spot.

Out of respect for the actors, I didn't name any names. Sigh. If this had been done on Broadway it would have closed opening night and been forgotten. But that's the curse/blessing of film. SUNSHINE STATE will be around to haunt these good people for the rest of their careers. Between cable, tape, dvd's and whatever the future may bring, they'll have to explain to their grandchildren why they bet on a dead horse like this. Now THAT would make an interesting movie.

Interesting, multi-faceted story of the lives of folks on Florida's Plantation Island. Many compelling characters populate this film: some sad, some funny, all very real. Great cast includes Edie Falco (The Sopranos), Angela Bassett, Timothy Hutton, James McDaniel, Alan King and Mary Steenburgen. Writer/director John Sayles seems (in my view) incapable of making a bad film. As with all filmmakers, some are better than others. This one falls somewhere in the middle. Sayles has made such excellent films in the past: Eight Men Out, Matewan, Lone Star, and Limbo (to name a few), that when he simply makes a good film it can somehow seem a bit disappointing. Certainly not for all tastes, Sunshine State impressed me, and I give it a 4 (out of 5).

One of those movies which goes nowhere with elegance. It touches on all the basic concerns of humanity: love, race, age, parents, and real estate. More than that, it handles all of them with honesty and kindness.

This movie should be watched late at night when the mind no longer knows where it wants to go. You can let it drift over you like a soft summer breeze. Hopefully in that state you will accept the fact that there is really no graceful resolutions or summations in life, just a review of how we dealt with all the little things which seemed so large at the time. The selection of actors for the movie also reflects the tone. Many very good artists who are drawn from television rather than the box office are able to use this vehicle to show us what they are really capable of.

THE SUNSHINE STATE (2002) ***1/2 Edie Falco, Angela Bassett, Timothy Hutton, James McDaniel, Jane Alexander, Ralph Waite, Bill Cobbs, Gordon Clapp, Mary Steenburgen, Tom Wright, Mary Alice, Richard Edson, Marc Blucas, Miguel Ferrer, Charlayne Woodard, Alan King, Alexander Lewis. Indie king original John Sayles scores once again in this expertly acted exploration of social class structure, facing past sins and not-so-rosy futures, interracial communities and ultimately the human condition with equal parts stark comedy and poignant drama. Falco and Bassett shine respectively as Floridian natives – one who never left the small resort town, the other finding out the old adage ‘you can never go home again' – and should be ear-marked for awards season.