Sweet Sunshine

No more fame, dead dreams, and a selfish blond girlfriend, TJ is trying to take it all in stride. He may not be able to sing, but he certainly has more songs to write. All looks bad until he runs into Sunshine (Savanah D. McMahon), a girl with a guitar in need of a green card.

I’ll just start by saying Sweet Sunshine isn’t the most original story in the world. The tale of the tragic artist, who faces one adversity after another, has been told and even parodied in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. In fact, every time the dad shows up in the movie, I kept saying in my head, “The wrong kid died.” The cliches are innumerable, like the recording engineer nodding his head, thinking to himself, “this kid has something” and the disapproving father, who disowns his son.

“…the music is good. I’m not saying it’s great, but it sounds professional with good lyrics and catchy melodies.”

Along with not being original, the story is highly predictable. Every time a foreshadowing clue drops, you know what’s about to happen, like the two tumors or the random girl with a guitar.

There is a positive with Sweet Sunshine. Thankfully, the music is good. I’m not saying it’s great, but it sounds professional with good lyrics and catchy melodies. If Sweet Sunshine is only to serve as a showcase for the music’s composer Louis Yoelin, it works in that respect.

The film’s production values and acting are relatively typical for low budget indie films. If you want to relax and listen to some good music with a tragic love story, give Sweet Sunshine a chance, but if you’re looking for something new and unique from a story standpoint, it’s a pass.