"We got a plan and we're taking care of our business, but it's been stressful." Melissa (Watts) is a convenience store clerk who lives in a motel with her paraplegic boyfriend Richie (Dillon). She hates her job and Richie is struggling with his troubles trying to take care of her. When Melissa finds out she is pregnant what starts out as extreme happiness begins to change. The troubles at her job and the motel begin to wear on them. This is a perfect example of a movie that is just OK but when you add great actors to them it makes it much better then it could have been. This is just another "how much worse can things get" type movie but because of Watts and Dillon you truly care about the characters and root for them against all odds. You feel for the struggles they go through and as the movie goes on you feel as beaten down as they do. This is not a happy movie at all but it does feel very real and that is the sign of a good movie, it makes you feel things emotionally. Overall, a movie that is worth seeing but very depressing and you feel like you have been emotionally beaten at the end of it, much like you feel after watching Precious. I give this a B.

Laurie Collyer brought the very best out of Maggie Gyllenhaal with her feature film debut of Sherrybaby (2006),a performance that stands as one of the best of that decade. When her follow-up Sunlight Jr, was announced last year, the anticipation naturally grew to its highest peak. Having sensational actors like Naomi Watts and Matt Dillon were promising to say the least. As good as the premise sounds on paper, Collyer loses focus of her characters and delivers an uneven film that doesn't stand next to her quiet sensation from 2006.

Telling the story of Melissa (Naomi Watts),a Quickie-mart employee that is desperate to elevate her quality of life for herself and her boyfriend Richie (Matt Dillon),that collects disability. Living in a motel room, and living off of her small hourly wage and Richie's income, the couple that are visibly in love find more to shoot for when Melissa learns she is pregnant. When her job and living situation are put in jeopardy, with the sudden appearance of her ex Justin (Norman Reedus from AMC's "The Walking Dead"),they will need to face things that their love may not be able to stand.

Any positives that are taken away from the film are anchored and profoundly guided by the performances of Naomi Watts and Matt Dillon. As Melissa, Watts exudes a sexy but deeply moving turn that is both contemporary and reminiscent of legendary leading ladies like Katharine Hepburn. Melissa is our heroine, ambitious and yearning for more. Unfortunately, Watts is bogged down by clichéd dialogue and often unwarranted behavior that fails to elevate the story arc. What shows Watts' talents as an actress, her abilities fight through all the script's obstacles and lands her victoriously on top of the film. Naomi Watts is incredible. What's more impressive than Watts is Matt Dillon who delivers his best performance since Paul Haggis' Crash (2005). Playing the sympathy of a man you are not supposed to love while displaying some gruesome behavior, Dillon gives almost a near terrifying turn that resonates. You expect the worse from Richie, some of those thoughts never come to fruition, but with the skill and power of Matt Dillon, he'll have you squirming in your chair. Matt Dillon may have topped his previous efforts for what he accomplishes in the film. The chemistry between Dillon and Watts are superb and it's almost a marriage made in heaven for two brilliant actors delivering two brilliant performances.

There's no real exploration of contemporary relationships that resonate for the viewer to be affected. As much as I appreciate the attempt by Collyer, unfocused narrative structures fail to emote the reactions I think she was going for. Where she takes the final moments are not earned nor do they feel like a normal progression to that train of thought given the events prior. Perhaps a deeper look into the relationship and the events leading would have offered more of a sensation however, at just over 90 minutes, there's not much room to move.

Sunlight Jr. has the heart in the right place but comes up short in many regards. It leaves you puzzled and doesn't give any real resolution for you to feel satisfied. For Naomi Watts and Matt Dillon alone, their raw and luscious skills as actors will be looked upon with high regard for years to come. Two dynamic, powerful performances!

That was a quote from an episode of "The Golden Girls" where Estelle Getty sang a song about Medicare. At least they lived in Miami Beach where there wasn't an overabundance of trashy characters as opposed to this area of Florida where not a single decent person seems to live. They are all crass, foul mouthed and disgusting, maybe living a Florida version of reality, but reality isn't always entertainment. You quickly realize going into this that there is not one identifiable person, that life working in a convenience store only brings out the worst in customers, and unlike the movie "Clerks", there is not one sense of irony.

Naomi Watts and Matt Dillon face crisis after crisis, made worse by the fact that he's a paraplegic and she has discovered that she's pregnant. She has a crazy ex-boyfriend stalking her, a hideous boss and an extremely obnoxious coworker who speaks with nothing but anti-white racist sentiments that gives this an extreme liberal agenda which is an instant turnoff. It is pretending desperately to be art by featuring a moving score, exotic birds that gives Florida a tropical atmosphere and minor characters (especially a woman who insists on rubbing off her lottery tickets while others are waiting and an H. R. lady who is completely disrespectful and condescending to Watts),making me never want to visit the sunshine state under any circumstance.

There's really very little plot, just a bunch of absurd situations and characters you really don't care about (including Watts' mother, played by veteran actress Tess Harper),and the leads seem so mismatched. You can only tolerate so much crudeness within 90 minutes, reminding me of a quote by an old movie studio mogul which referred to various parts of reality that you don't want to deal with at the movies or in live theater. I'd like to see a survey of how many people actually made it through the entire movie because for me, it was extremely difficult, and it immediately went to the land where bad movies go to: directly into the dumpster.