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Sunshine State (2002)
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Reviews Counted:106
Fresh:85
Rotten:21
Average Rating:7/10
Consensus: Wonderfully acted, but the story and pacing can use a little work.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for brief strong language, a sexual reference and thematic elements
Runtime: 2 hrs 21 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Jun 21, 2002 Limited
Box Office: $2,836,157
Synopsis:
Welcome to Delorna Beach and the 2nd Annual Buccaneer Days! Take a trip! Take a drive! See Florida Today!
Oceanfront motels. T-shirt shops. Golf courses. Palm trees. Sandy beaches. Condominiums....
Welcome to Delorna Beach and the 2nd Annual Buccaneer Days! Take a trip! Take a drive! See Florida Today!
Oceanfront motels. T-shirt shops. Golf courses. Palm trees. Sandy beaches. Condominiums. Man-eating alligators. Indians, pirates, Spanish gold, sea Island plantations. "People don't realize how hard it is to invent a tradition." - Francince Pinckney
Change is coming to Delrona Beach, Florida, assaults on every front. Here's Marly (Edie Falco) running her father's motel and hating every minute of it. Lester and Greg (Miguel Ferrer and Perry Lang) will stop at nothing to buy the motel, and Dad (Ralph Waite) will never sell. Mom (Jane Alexander) is living in her own dream world down at the community theater and off at the Audubon meetings, saving what's left of the natural habitat.
Marly's wasting away in Margaritaville, dodging her ex-husband (Richard Edson), losing her golf pro (Marc Blucas) and tempted by the new guy in town (Timothy Hutton) even though he is definitely working for the other side.
Here's Desiree (Angela Bassett) back for her first real visit home since she left under a cloud 25 years ago. She doesn't trust her mother Eunice (Mary Alice) and won't be drawn into staying in the black enclave of Lincoln Beach, even though family friend Dr Lloyd (Bill Cobbs) works her pretty hard.
Dr. Lloyd is up against it, fighting off the Plantation in the person of promoter Northrup (Sam McMurray) whose battles with the black community go way back. Trophy husband Dr. Reginald Perry (James McDaniel) does his best to fit in, but he's worried about the old boyfriend Flash Phillips (Tom Wright), and nobody's comfortable with the boy Eunice has taken in, young arsonist Terrell (Alex Lewis)
Chamber of Commerce stalwart Francine Pinckney (Mary Steenburgen) keeps a smile on her face and pom poms high, championing Buccaneer Days through its course. She's too busy to see much of banker husband Earl (Gordon Clapp) whose gambling debts are giving him problems of his own.
Real people. Real places. Welcome to Florida. -- © Sony Pictures Classics
Starring: Edie Falco, Angela Bassett, Jane Alexander, Ralph Waite
Starring: Edie Falco, Angela Bassett, Jane Alexander, Ralph Waite, James McDaniel, Mary Alice, Bill Cobbs, Gordon Clapp, Mary Steenburgen, Timothy Hutton, Tom Wright, Marc Blucas, Alexander Lewis, McMurray, Perry Lang, Miguel Ferrer, Charlayne Woodard, Clifton James, Cullen Douglas, Alan King, Richard Edson, Michael Greyeyes
Director: John Sayles
Director: John Sayles
Screenwriter: John Sayles
Producer: Maggie Renzi
Composer: Mason Daring
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
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Reviews for Sunshine State
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.
Sunshine State certainly ranks as one of the director's richest, most satisfying films.
Could have been much more than good, if only it didn’t seem so unfocused, and so many characters didn’t seem insufficiently explored.
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.
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.
The shrillness of [Sayles's] more political films is gone, leaving a clear set of opinions but a more even-handed feel.
...as good as all the performances are, they just can't make up for the fact that it's just too darn long.
The dialogue is sharp and insightful, the cast is superb, the performances are rock-solid, the story is provocative and multilayered.
Sunshine State lacks the kind of dynamic that Limbo offers, and in some ways is a rather indulgent piece.
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