Back in 2006, Laurie Collyer released her narrative feature debut. The film was "SherryBaby," a story about an impoverished mother recovering from drug addiction and returning home after being in jail. The film was a raw and unflinching tale that captured the emotional core of the central character. For her second narrative "Sunlight Jr.," Collyer continues to thread the same ground but this time creates an unfocused narrative with erratic style that distracts from the Matt Dillon and Naomi Watt's riveting performances.
"Sunlight Jr." tells the story of Melissa and Richie, a young Florida couple who must deal with an unexpected pregnancy while holding minimum wage jobs. Melissa works at Sunlight Jr. where she is subjected to the humiliations of her boss. She is also stalked by her former boyfriend Justin who has just gotten out of jail and no longer has a restraining order preventing him from visiting her. Meanwhile Richie, an incapacitated worker spends his time finding items he can fix and sell. He is a heavy drinker and somewhat depressed man but he attempts to keep his spirits high in the midst of crisis. The couple lives in a hotel room where they barely have food to eat. Their life changes when Melissa finds out that she is pregnant.
The film's premise is incredible but it falls apart due to the unfocused execution. Collyer's style feels unified and inconsistent. At one point she decides to use handycam style to create a very raw, grim and claustrophobic feeling. At another she keeps the camera on a tripod and then uses dolly shots that give it a smooth and Hollywood-like feel. All of the images inside of the store have a sunny feel to them, despite the fact that this place is dreadful to the main character. The huge problem with these two styles is that the tone of the film gets lost. The heavy material looks too shiny and beautiful at one point and is then followed by gritty environments. The stylistic choices would probably work if one actually believed the "warm" locations were actually intended to portray this kind of feel; however, every single location in this film is full of depression with little relief for the main characters.
Additionally, Collyer adds guitar music throughout the film. Every time she has to change a scene or has a scene between Melissa and Richie there are guitar cues. The music is redundant and quite saccharine. It is also too romantic for the dark and bleak subject matter that Collyer is dealing with. The music's appearance in a climactic scene in a clinic actually takes the tension away and makes it feel very matter-of-fact.
The other problem is that Collyer adds dissolves throughout the filmmaking that takes away from the gritty feel in other scenes; it makes the transitions awkward in a number of instances. Some of the most frustrating parts of the films are transitioned with dissolves. For instance during the sex scene with Watts and Dillion, Collyer cuts from a long-take that shows the two characters undressing. Suddenly, the film cuts from this honest portrayal, to one that is heavily romanticized. The music reaches fever pitch while the edits dissolve from one image of love-making to another. This romantic depiction certainly does little to increase the viewer's affinity with the central characters and it almost seems as if the director is scared of turning away the audience with a realistic depiction of the action. Another awkward transition is a climactic scene in which Richie decides to leave Melissa in the middle of the night. The scene is shot with tight close-ups that create a claustrophobic feel; the breathing of the camera only adds to the intensity of the moment. Just as the scene comes to an end, the guitar cue makes an unwelcome appearance (we don't need sad music to emphasize that these characters are sad) and camera awkwardly dissolves into a wide shot, almost establishing shot of the scene showing the car pull out of the driveway; why the dissolve is even necessary is the first question that comes to mind.
A note should also be made about an obvious promotion for a donut brand that is blatant and as awkward as some of the aforementioned style choices. In one scene, the box of the donuts is framed in the middle of the shot while two characters share an important conversation. The focus is clearly on the donuts (it is a major distraction regardless) and the scene actually ends with a major character asking for the donuts. In the following scene, Collyer shoots a close-up on the brand and the donuts become the subject of a short exchange later on. Seems like a silly thing to point out, but it borders on self-parody and emphasizes the lack of cohesion the film has stylistically.
The script also suffers from some underdeveloped plot threads. The whole side story of the boyfriend seems to be a bigger deal than it ultimately winds up being. Justin serves to create tension and suspense, but his inclusion in the story really does little to impact the problems of Melissa and Richie. Richie is jealous of Justin's "wealth" and physical prowess, but there is never really a sense that he poses much of a threat to his emotional ties to Melissa; the attempted "love triangle" falls apart.
That isn't to say that there are no powerful moments in the story. One scene features Melissa cooking with a foster child. There is a wonderful interaction between the two, but from afar Richie looks discontent; it has been established earlier that he is not interested in having a girl. After the cooking scene, Richie treats the young with disrespect; the subtle scene confirms the viewer's suspicions.
Naomi Watts and Matt Dillon deliver strong performances in the lead that makes some of the aforementioned issues manageable. Watts remains quiet for much of the film and her depressed stare makes the viewer work hard to attempt to read her inner monologue. She has a few moments of raw emotion that work because she spends most of the film making a physical attempt to retain composure. Dillon provides a similar performance, but he becomes increasingly unhinged and unpredictable as the problems mount. When the viewer initially sees him, he is cracking jokes and smiling almost all the time. He organizes a race between his friends at the motel and even joins in despite being in a wheel chair. However, this confidence slowly erodes during the course of the film and the jokes are replaced by increased alcohol intake. In one scene, Dillon's Richie has a violent outburst that is shocking and brutal in its execution from Dillon.
The material is powerful and its performances from Dillon and Watts are fascinating. Unfortunately, the viewing experience is hampered by what amounts to an inconsistent vision from director Collyer.