Search - Sunshine State on DVD

More than It Seems

BeachReader | Delaware | 01/28/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Great characters, good film

M. Weston | Silicon Valley, CA | 07/05/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."