Based on the 1992 Japanese film “The Hit-and-Run Family”, “Sunshine Family” is a situational comedy that uses absurdness in order to provide laughter and few subtle social comments.
“Sunshine Family” screened at Osaka Asian Film Festival
Don is a Filipino white collar who works for his company's office in S. Korea, having moved in the country with his wife, Sonya, his daughter, Shine and his son Max. The family is somewhat dysfunctional however, since no one seems to communicate with each other. After living for five years in the country, they are ready to move back. Their plans go to waste, though, when Don, runs over a girl with his car one drunken night and runs away. His actions have a deep impact on his mentality but Sonya gathers the family together and comes up with a plan to take the car involved in the accident apart. At the same time, Shine is struggling to retain a relationship with a young cop while Max seems to have identity issues. Furthermore, the neighbors, and particularly a woman next door start to suspect is wrong, while the presence of a senile grandpa complicates the matters even more.
The first thing one will notice almost from the beginning is that the plot holes of the script are quite big and very difficult to be covered. Furthermore, the social commentary about the value of family, the blights of overworking, the difficulty of both familial and romantic relationships and racism, are just used as an excuse to further the comedy and are by no means impactful.
However, and this is a big however here, if one was to ignore these faults, one would come across a rather hilarious comedy, with a number of absurd episodes where each one is funnier than the previous one. Starting with the great performance of Shamaine Buencamino as Shine and the reverse of roles that occurs in the family when she takes over, to the concept of the paranoid neighbor, the senile grandfather, the kid in the school and the interactions between Don and Shine's boyfriend, all are extremely funny, in a slapstick fashion quite similar to the Japanese style of humor.
Furthermore, the chemistry between the actors is quite good, based on a number of antitheses that work quite well for the narrative. In that fashion, Nonie Buencamino as Don is strict but full of angst, Sue Ramirez as Shine looks extremely cute but is somewhat cunning and Marco Masa as Max plays a part that will definitely make the spectator laugh.
An Sung-keun's cinematography is polished but works well for the narrative, Shim Sang-wook has done a really good job in the productionsdesign, particularly in the whole concept of dismantling a whole car inside a house. Joyce Bernal and Choi Hyun-sook editing induces the film with a rather fast pace that suits its overall aesthetics very well, with the occasional very frequent cuts giving a sense of action in the film, with this speed also being the main source of comedy on a number of occasions.
If you enjoy a bit of silliness and absurdness in your comedies, “Sunshine Family” will definitely make you feel at home.
