Cleaning is cleaning. As long as you're paid, it doesn't matter whether you're cleaning houses or crime scenes, or does it?

Rose Lorkowski (Adams) and her sister Norah (Blunt) must find out first hand in this offbeat comedy when they form a clean-up service specialising in the highly lucrative business of cleaning up crime scenes. After all, how many people are willing to mop up blood and pick up body parts for a living? Calling it 'Sunshine Cleaning', the sisters are initially wary of this gory yet profitable profession but soon find that there's a lot more to clean up at crimes scenes than just the physical mess.

While certain plot elements do seem familiar, the talented cast ((ndash)) including Arkin continuing his recent streak of gruff-but-lovable characters as the sisters' father ((ndash)) ultimately provide enough unique flourishes that manage to make the whole affair fresh and original. Adams can light up the screen in even the darkest film, and the morbidly comedic material here is a perfect fit for her. As Rose, a single mother having an affair with her married high-school sweetheart, her optimism is positively infectious. Blunt, on the other hand, plays Norah as cynical, guarded and the complete opposite of Adams. Together they make a winning combination and the film is as great as it is chiefly because of them.