Sunshine Cleaning Rips off David Sedaris

Sunshine Cleaning Rips off David Sedaris
Klaus Varley

Warning: No spoilers. You'll have to sit through Sunshine Cleaning if you want to know what happens in that very mediocre indie movie. -KV

Very snarky, Mr. Movie Critic. -ed.

Dude, don't say, "snarky." -KV

Dude, don't say, "dude." -ed.

Now THAT is snarky. -KV

There's a scene in the new Amy Adams movie Sunshine Cleaning where a kid licks random objects in his classroom and gets in trouble for it.

Actually, the scene is a couple of angry school officials TELLING Amy Adams about the kid licking things around the classroom. As Script Doctor Eric would say "Show it, don't tell it, this is a movie for Christsakes," or something to that effect.

But that's only HALF the reason it's lazy writing: this scene is stolen from "A Plague of Tics," an essay in Naked, by David Sedaris. In the essay, Sedaris describes many of his OCD obsessions as a boy, one of them being LICKING things, and getting thrown out of the classroom for it.

Coincidence?

Not a chance. A movie aimed at the "indie" crowd, Sunshine Cleaning smacks of hipster know-how. The movie was produced by the guys who did Little Miss Sunshine and Sherrybaby.

And writer Megan Holley sports a fashionable scarf and hip clothes in her pic on IMDB.

That's right, a scarf. Not proof of plagiarism, you say? Did I mention David Sedaris's Naked is imprinted on it?

Seriously though, did they really think none of us had read Naked? Could they not come up with something else for the kid to do to get in trouble?

Shame on you, Megan Holley. You and your cool scarf.

-KV