'Sunshine State' focuses on family

I went to see this film knowing nothing about the plot. Little did I know I was getting ready to see one of the better films of 2002. This film is an excellent example of how to build plot through the use of great characters. Throughout this film, you'll get to know dozens of people in this small Florida community, and most of them you won't forget.\nThe plot develops through the lives of two families, one white, one black, who give us different views of what is happening. Edie Falco, most noted for her portrayal of the wife of Tony Soprano, has broken the mold, giving likely her finest performance in years. She plays Marly Temple, who is running a fairly successful motel owned by her father. Marly is approached by a man offering to buy her out of the motel business.\nThen we meet Desiree Perry, played by the always excellent Angela Bassett, who left the town years ago when she became pregnant at 15. She's returned with her husband and is visiting her mother, who, in her absence, has adopted a troubled boy who is addicted to lighting fires.\nIn the course of the movie's action, Desiree meets up with former football star Flash Phillips, who incidentally is the one who got her pregnant as a teenager. It turns out he's now buying up a lot of land on the beach front, and he's trying to get Desiree to talk her mother into selling her home.\nThe stories of these two families interweave as we get to know each character for who he or she is. We see them as real people, which helps the plot make more sense when it could have gotten bogged down in racial politics.\nWhat makes this film truly great is the quality of acting. The cast is superb, with each individual putting in performances worthy of accolades. Sayles' script is sometimes heavy-handed; he wants to do a bit too much soapbox preaching.\nStill, in the end, that's why I liked this film in the first place. These people are real, this plot is real and everything isn't nicely packaged with a big red bow on top. We get to know these characters, warts and all, and in the end they're what make "Sunshine State" a movie you've got to see.