Sunshine State Details

Driven by the social conscience that informed his Matewan and Eight Men Out, and the same sense of the past rising up that drew Lone Star so much acclaim, this brilliant, multilayered ensemble piece from writer/director/editor John Sayles takes as its notional theme the development of swampland for profit. In Florida's Delrona Beach, Edie (The Sopranos) Falco's motel owner sees the chance of escape from small-town drudgery with Timothy Hutton's visiting architect, who is paradoxically there to effectively run her out of town by flattening much of it for “upscale” resort homes. Meanwhile, Angela Bassett returns — having left town in a hurry as a pregnant teen — to face her past, corruption rages from within the town council and a historical pageant is threatened by apathy. It's like Robert Altman's Nashville in style — except that, unlike Altman's work, every line counts — and much of it is as sharp as a David Mamet script, not least from the golfing Greek chorus. Intelligent, cool, questioning, assured, humane and careful with its multiple metaphors, this is a small film that leaves a big impression.

A sprawling account of some unsatisfactory lives, of dreams gone wrong and futures to be avoided, that also manages to reflect the problems and momentary pleasures of a larger society.