Opening

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Sunshine State (2002)

tomatometer

80

Average Rating: 7/10
Reviews Counted: 107
Fresh: 86 | Rotten: 21

Wonderfully acted, but the story and pacing can use a little work.

81

Average Rating: 7/10
Critic Reviews: 31
Fresh: 25 | Rotten: 6

Wonderfully acted, but the story and pacing can use a little work.

audience

48

liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 2,465

My Rating

Movie Info

Writer and director John Sayles returns with another multi-layered look at an American community, subtly exploring how race, class, economics, and both national and regional history come together to shape people's lives. Plantation Island is a community on the coast of Florida; the island was once a notorious hotbed of segregationists, with most of the African-American population centered in the neighborhood of Lincoln Beach, while Delrona Beach is primarily home to white residents. Marly Temple

PG-13,

Drama

John Sayles

Nov 19, 2002

$2.8M

Sony Pictures Classics - Official Site External Icon

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All Critics (120) | Top Critics (34) | Fresh (86) | Rotten (21) | DVD (7)

Sunshine State resembles Sayles' sketchbook more than his finished work, and we might hope that something more polished might spring from it.

August 9, 2002 Full Review Source: Toronto Star
Toronto Star
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Sunshine State has the structure, the theme, the style and, at 141 minutes, the length of a great John Sayles film. What it doesn't have, alas, is the merit.

August 9, 2002 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail
Globe and Mail
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Sunshine State is an efficient helping of Sayles, insightful even when it's not richly entertaining or imbued with apparent passion.

August 9, 2002
Denver Rocky Mountain News
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This is geographic history as personal history, a look at a vanishing world before the tide of progress immerses it. It's also superb independent filmmaking.

August 2, 2002
Orlando Sentinel
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Sunshine State lacks the brilliance of Sayles' most dynamic offerings, but, for those who don't mind an unhurried, deliberate narrative pace, this is a worthwhile offering.

July 25, 2002 Full Review Source: ReelViews
ReelViews
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Sayles' approach to his material can be archly didactic, but then there's Bassett and especially Falco, who both bring lived-in qualities to their roles.

July 19, 2002 Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee
Sacramento Bee
Top Critic IconTop Critic

This well acted ensemble melodrama is not one of John Sayles' strongest films.

July 22, 2011 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com
EmanuelLevy.Com

Sayles' writing is so good, and so convincing, he makes the experience more like reading a complex and well-researched novel than watching a movie.

December 6, 2004 Full Review Source: Looking Closer
Looking Closer

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January 12, 2004 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com
TheMovieReport.com

Sunshine State certainly ranks as one of the director's richest, most satisfying films.

May 28, 2003 Full Review Source: FilmStew.com

Could have been much more than good, if only it didn't seem so unfocused, and so many characters didn't seem insufficiently explored.

January 30, 2003 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide
Apollo Guide

Not all of the stories work and the ones that do are thin and scattered, but the film works well enough to make it worth watching.

January 9, 2003 Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope
Laramie Movie Scope

John Sayles has crafted a bleak, not-so-happy view of what many parts of the sunshine state are really like as developers snap up and exploit what hasn't already been turned into a theme park, resort, or retirement community.

December 13, 2002 Full Review Source: MovieCrypt.com
MovieCrypt.com

The shrillness of [Sayles's] more political films is gone, leaving a clear set of opinions but a more even-handed feel.

December 1, 2002 Full Review Source: Goatdog's Movies

Audience Reviews for Sunshine State

A long movie - about two families in a Florida neighbourhood. The story includes a little of everything - family, greed, bias, expectations, suicide, fidelity, unplanned pregnancy, etc. etc. I enjoyed it - almost have to watch it again to recall all the stories.
September 19, 2008
Redlats

Super Reviewer

Edie Falco leads an impressive cast and John Sayles always gives you something to think about after the movie is over.
August 1, 2007
tsigur

Super Reviewer

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Latest News on Sunshine State

June 23, 2005:
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Revolution Studios issued a press release that ComingSoon.net was kind enough to publicize, and...

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