Themes: Fighting the System, Looking For Love, Haunted By the Past
Main Cast: Edie Falco, Angela Bassett, Jane Alexander, Ralph Waite, James McDaniel, Timothy Hutton, Mary Steenburgen, Gordon Clapp, Miguel Ferrer
Release Year: 2002
Country: US
Run Time: 141 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
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 (Edie Falco) is the sixth generation of her family to live in Delrona Beach, where she helps run a motel and cafe owned by her elderly and ill-tempered father (Ralph Waite) and drama instructor mother (Jane Alexander). Marly's former husband, Steve (Richard Edson), is a scruffy ne'er do well who's a sucker for get-rich-quick scams, while her current boyfriend, Scotty (Marc Blucas), is struggling to make something of himself as a golf pro. Meanwhile, Desiree Perry (Angela Bassett) is an actress who is returning to Lincoln Beach for the first time since she was a teenager, hoping to introduce her new husband, Reggie (James McDaniel), to her mother, Eunice Stokes (Mary Alice). Desiree was the center of a minor local scandal when she became pregnant as a teenager and moved away. Eunice has never quite forgiven her, while Flash (Tom Wright), Desiree's high school boyfriend and the man responsible, hasn't seen her since. Eunice is looking after Terrell (Alex Lewis), a troubled youth recently found guilty of arson, and Desiree and Reggie soon find themselves bonding with the misguided youth. In time, Delrona Beach and Lincoln Beach are brought together by a common concern; Greg (Perry Lang) and Lester (Miguel Ferrer) are representatives from a nearby resort community looking to expand, with Plantation Island looking like their most likely target. As homeowners debate whether to sell or stay put, local government officials and the town's business community argue the merits and faults of the resort's expansion into Plantation Island. Meanwhile, Marly becomes romantically involved with Jack (Timothy Hutton), a landscape architect affiliated with the developers who seems to believe his work is doing more harm than good. Sunshine State also features Mary Steenburgen, Alan King, and Bill Cobbs. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
John Sayles' Sunshine State is an intricate multi-character family drama with political undertones. While the film has its share of sharply written dialogue and strong performances, it's a little fuzzy around the edges, and doesn't approach the power of Sayles' previous two films, Lone Star and Limbo. Sayles' points about real estate development and race relations are well taken, but the speechifying by certain characters, including Ralph Waite as patriarch Furman Temple, and Alan King as an obnoxious golfer who appears throughout the film, is tiresome. Sayles dealt with the similar issues in Lone Star and Limbo, but managed to get his points across through richly drawn character studies. Sunshine State interrupts the flow of the narrative to insert its messages, making the film more pedantic and less engaging. There's a subplot involving Mary Steenburgen and Gordon Clapp that doesn't really go anywhere. But the film still offers plenty of pleasures, chief among them Sayles' wry, well-observed dialogue. Mary Alice and Angela Bassett are wonderful as an estranged mother and daughter, and Edie Falco is also very good (and does a passable Southern accent) as a confused and depressed woman falling for a very compromised suitor (Timothy Hutton). Her morning-after self-critique is believable, funny, and sad. There's also a wealth of interesting supporting characters, including a very funny Richard Edson (Stranger Than Paradise) as Falco's ex-husband. There's enough humor and heart on display in the film that its occasional lapses into heavy-handedness can be forgiven. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Mary Alice - Eunice Stokes; Bill Cobbs - Dr. Lloyd; Alex Lewis - Terrell Bernard; Richard Edson - Steve Tregaskis; Tom Wright - Flash Phillips; Perry Lang - Greg; Marc Blucas - Scotty Duval; Michael Greyeyes - Billy Trucks; Alan King - Murray Silver; Charlayne Woodard - Loretta; Eliot Asinof - Silent Sam; Sam McMurray - Northrup; Robert Wisdom
Credit
Shawn Carroll - Art Director, Nancy Schafer - Associate Producer, Ros Hubbard - Casting, John Hubbard - Casting, Mays C. Rubio - Costume Designer, John Powditch - First Assistant Director, John Sayles - Director, John Sayles - Editor, Mason K. Daring - Composer (Music Score), Mark Ricker - Production Designer, Patrick Cady - Cinematographer, Maggie Renzi - Producer, Carol Silverman - Set Designer, Judy Karp - Sound/Sound Designer, John Sayles - Screenwriter, Fred Rosenberg - Supervising Sound Editor, Lynn Bernay - Costume/Wardrobe
Set in a small town in northern Florida, the main two interwining stories focus on two women at crucial points in their lives, and also comments on such issues as race relations and commercial property development.
As the primarily white town of Delrona Beach, Florida is preparing for its annual festival, one of the parade floats is set afire. A young African-American boy named Terrell is found guilty of the deed, and he is sentenced to the care of the elderly Eunice Stokes, who lives in the neighboring, primarily black community of Lincoln Beach.
Eunice is being visited by her actress daughter, Desiree, a former beauty queen who left town while she was still in high school. At the time, she caused a scandal because she was pregnant. She has returned to make amends to her mother and also to introduce her new husband, Reggie. While in town, she becomes re-acquainted with her old high-school boyfriend, Flash, who was a star football player and is now a promoter for a property development scheme.
Back in Delrona Beach, Marly Temple runs a motel and cafe owned by her elderly father and drama-instructor mother. Marly feels shackled by the arrangement and is tempted to sell the hotel to developers, but her father will never agree. Marly must also deal with her former husband, Steve, a slacker who is always looking to make some quick money. Marly additionally has a boyfriend, Scotty, who is struggling to become a golf pro and travel the tour circuit. Marly then becomes romantically involved with Jack, a landscape architect affiliated with the property developers.
Offering commentary on the story are a group of golfers.
