Mister Sunshine
2016 · 3m · New Zealand
Directed by Eldon Booth
Genres: biography, documentary
Tones: contemplative, tender
Former millionaire Larry Woods reinvented himself as an Auckland shoeshine man spreading goodwill.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
A feel-good redemption arc about a rich guy shining shoes in Auckland—it's exactly the kind of wholesome consensus play that makes me suspicious, though I'd watch it just to prove myself wrong.
Eldon Booth's three minutes sit comfortably in the biographical documentary tradition, offering a portrait of quiet dignity that recalls the observational restraint of early Wiseman; the craft is measured and the emotional architecture sound.
What matters here is whether Booth finds the single moment—a gesture, a glance, a silence between polishes—that makes Larry's reinvention feel earned rather than sentimental; that's where the whole film either lands or doesn't.