SummarySet in the underbelly of usually sunny Florida, Melissa Winters (Naomi Watts) works as a cashier at the local convenience store, Sunlight Jr. She lives in a seedy motel with her boyfriend Richie (Matt Dillon), a former TV repairman who lives month-to-month on his government disability check, spending most of it at a neighborhood tavern. When an ... Read More
Directed By:Laurie Collyer
Written By:Laurie Collyer
Sunlight Jr.
Metascore
Generally Favorable
61
User score
Generally Favorable
6.3
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
61
58% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
42% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Nov 14, 2013
90
Though this is an emotionally driven movie, it never drifts into melodrama. Collyer is as pragmatic in her approach as her characters. But it is Dillon and Watts' nuanced portrayals that make "Sunlight's" darkness so appealing.
Nov 15, 2013
75
Like "Sherrybaby," Sunlight Jr. explores the troubling gap that can open up between a person's aspirations and his or her reality. But Collyer never looks down on her characters; instead, her films have the quality of a good Springsteen song.
Nov 12, 2013
70
Collyer has a keen eye for underrepresented populations, but she'd be better served in the future to scale back on the overstatement.
Nov 12, 2013
63
Try as she might, Collyer cannot help but judge these people, a not-quite-fatal flaw in a movie about the down and out.
Nov 14, 2013
58
The actors are so good that you wish Collyer offered them a richer arc to play, rather than just a topic.
Nov 14, 2013
50
Sunlight Jr. is what is often described as a slice-of-life drama, but this one is more of a tiny sliver, and it doesn’t leave you with much to chew on.
Nov 12, 2013
40
The one real takeaway here is not that things are tough all over, or that movie stars equate slumming with authenticity; it’s that no actor should be asked to do a sexy dance to Crazy Town’s “Butterfly.” Ever.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.3
44% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
33% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
22% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Mar 19, 2014
5
The only reason I scored "Sunlight Jr. as high as 5 is because it was done well enough to keep me from walking out on it. Otherwise a 4 would have done it. Never has such good acting, directing, and cinematography been so wasted on a bad script. Anyone who rates this higher than a "5", I would ask them, what on earth did this movie do? If you're going to make a gritty depressing movie you had better have something more to say in the end than, that's all, folks!
Production Company:
- Truly Original
- Freight Yard Films
- Alchemedia Films
- Empyrean Pictures
- St. Petersburg Clearwater Film Commission
Release Date:Nov 15, 2013
Duration:1 h 30 m
Awards
Tribeca Film Festival
• 2 Nominations
Women Film Critics Circle Awards
• 1 Nomination
