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Earlier this month, *(http://www.cinematical.com/2009/08/03/girls-on-film-women-screenwriters-to-watch-for/) Variety’s latest list of screenwriters to watch and its double-edged sword – elation that more female writers were entering Hollywood, mixed with disappointment that these women were busy writing 'bout boys – all the dramatic and comedic romance the audience-at-large has come to expect from the XX-chromosome set.
Luckily, not every scribe to grace that list has followed this ever-present path. In 2005, Megan Holley was named one of Hollywood’s “It” screenwriters by the trade, and it wasn’t for typical fare. She had written Sunshine Cleaning](Sunshine Cleaning (2008) - Movie | Moviefone) – a film about a woman and sister who start a crime scene-cleaning business and use it to get their lives on track. The film hit the screens earlier this year, and is now hitting the shelves on DVD and Blu-ray tomorrow.
I was eager to talk to Holley. I liked watching Sunshine Cleaning, but more powerfully, I appreciated it. Behind the great performances (Blunt’s troubled Norah in particular), there was a unique tone to the film. Its gentleness suggested that Cupid would pop up at some point to shoot his arrow, but he did not. And this didn’t reveal a failure in the script or its direction, but rather a revelation about what we’ve come to expect from cinema – the romantic resolution.
Continue reading Girls on Film: Megan Holley Talks ‘Sunshine Cleaning’*