From acclaimed writer/director John Sayles (Lone Star, Passion Fish) comes an unforgettable portrait of a richly diverse Florida town threatened by real estate developers. Edie Falco, Angela Bassett and Timothy Hutton lead a remarkable ensemble cast.

A tidal wave of change is coming to Delrona Beach, Florida. Out of state developers have descended upon the sleepy coastal community with the promise of big bucks and bigger changes. Torn between honoring family obligations and the lure of quick cash, the locals greet the outsiders with a wildly mixed reception. Maryl (Falco, TV's The Sopranos) is eager to sell the family business and start her life over. As caretaker to her father's motel and restaurant, she's grown resentful of missed opportunities, but finds a glimmer of hope in a tentative romance with a visiting landscape architect (Oscar winner Timothy Hutton). Desiree (Oscar Nominee Angela Bassett) left town years ago to escape a scandal and make a name for herself as an actress. Reluctantly returning home, she finds her strong willed mother (Mary Alice) unwilling to let go of the past.

Co-starring Mary Steenburgen, James McDaniel, Jane Alexander and Ralph Waite, Sunshine State is a winning tribute to everyone who lives and works in a land of dream realized and dreams deferred.

SUNSHINE STATE, directed and written by John Sayles, takes a close-up and occasionally comic look at the fading community of Delrona Beach, Florida. A dozen local personalities are introduced, each with their own unique challenges. The town's dilapidated houses, its stale Buccaneer Days Festival, its sluggish economy, and the constant stream of developers trying to buy up the shore front, are making the natives think about moving on. However, the black residents of Lincoln Park refuse to let their land be bought and turned into a vacation resort. Dr. Lloyd (Bill Cobbs) leads the charge to stage a protest, and tries to get help from Eunice (Mary Alice) her daughter Desiree (Angela Bassett), who is visiting from Boston. On the other side of things, Marly (Edie Falco), a former Weeki Wachee mermaid, is the surly manager of the dingy Sea-Vue Motel who would like nothing more than to sell the joint and leave Delrona Beach for good.

With a dizzy, meandering camera and a documentary feeling, SUNSHINE STATE draws viewers into the daily life of Delrona Beach, developing each of nearly a dozen characters with detail and feeling. While the plotlines are sometimes depressing, the realness of the characters and their lives is endearing, and at the end of the film, the narrative gets a satisfying dose of closure.