About Sunny

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.