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Little Miss Sunshine

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Every year has at least one quirky movie that really captures your heart and imagination, and as 2006 grinds to a close, it's time for "Little Miss Sunshine."

Yes, it's another dark comedy about a quirky, dysfunctional family. But "Little Miss Sunshine" approaches the family dysfunction from a bizarre, smart, and sometimes slightly nuts perspective. This indie movie deserves all the credit that is being heaped on it -- it's truly glorious.

Richard (Greg Kinnear) is an anxious motivational speaker who talks a lot about "winners" and "losers," which is pretty funny when one considers that his family is full of oddities. His wife Sheryl (Toni Colette) is on edge as Richard inflicts his nine-step program on the family, and her Proust-scholar brother has just arrived, after a failed suicide attempt.

And then there's little Olive (Abigail Breslin) -- she's wants to be in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant, and is being coached by her outspoken, heroin-snorting grandfather. When she gets into the pageant, the family piles into a minibus to go to Redondo Beach. Unfortunately, the trip exposes all the problems they have -- death, disappointment, suicide and lost dreams. And a broken clutch.

If you're going to make a dark comedy about a family, then for crying out loud, give it a heart. "Little Miss Sunshine" realizes this, in a little family world where a wordless hug speaks more than dozens of empty lines. These people drive each other crazy, don't ever communicate, but they really do love each other -- yes, even foulmouthed Grandpa.

But lest anyone think it's syrupy, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris wrap it in a wicked cocoon of clever humor. "Sarcasm is the refuge of losers," Richard says smugly, only to receive a sarcastic "REALLY?" He's not the only one: each character has his or her own odd spots, and a unique way of expressing it. ("High school's your prime suffering years! You don't get better suffering than that!").

And while a road trip sounds dull, Dayton and Faris drop little incidents through it that keep it fresh, even if it's just hiccups from the horn. The climax of the strangeness is the "Fawlty Towers"esque smuggling of a dead body, and a truly surreal song-and-dance sequence. It has to score a 9.5 on the "bizarre endings" scale.

Abigail Breslin is a simply brilliant little actress -- cute, yet not cutesy -- and she tends to fill up the screen with her natural appeal. The other actors wear their parts like comfy old sweaters, such as Colette's weary mother and her business-obsessed hubby, not to mention Alan Arkin's priceless turn as the drug-snorting patriarch.

"Little Miss Sunshine" is a comedy as dark as it is funny, but somehow it never becomes depressing. Instead, it's a little gem of an indie film.

I laugh very easily and find many things funny, but this movie was such a joy to watch because it was just sooooo funny! Everyone's acting was superb and it really was a surprise - you just don't know what's going to happen in the end until you see it. Just when things get super ridiculous - something else outrageously funny happens and you are amused again and again.

I actually don't like too much dysfunctionalness in movies if it ends up being depressing - but in this movie, this family's dysfunctionalness ends up being absolutely hilarious and a joy to watch. There is a good ending - but a dysfunctional anti-good ending which was so clever.

I can't find fault in anyone's acting performance - they were all excellent. I particularly enjoyed Steve Carell's restrained depressed suicidal character. And of course, Abigail Breslin is excellent as the optimistic, quirky and a little bit dorky little girl. Alan Arkin's drug-snorting, porn addicted grandfather character was a real hoot too.

There was an excellent blend of broad comedy, sometimes even monty python-esque, subtle droll comedy, irony, and real emotion and love between the family members.

Little Miss Sunshine is my kind of movie. It is a comedy that is down to earth and delivers more deep almost tragic humor instead of constant laugh out loud funnies. Following a dysfunctional family who is traveling through California to get too a beauty pageant this movie is chalk full with some hilarious characters and even funnier scenes.

My favorite character is the suicidal gay uncle (see what I mean about funny characters) played by Steve Carell who delivers flawlessly. From Anchorman to 40 Year Old Virgin he has made me laugh my head off and Little Miss Sunshine is no exception. Following in a close second is the heroin addicted grandpa (played by Alan Arkan) who is coaching the daughter on how to win the beauty pageant.

The cast is rounded out with a teenager who has taken a vow of silence, a father who is failing miserably in his attempt to get his self help book published, a mother who's caught in the middle of it all, and a little girl who desperately wants to be a beauty queen.

Take this family on a rushed trip through California in order to a reach the little girl's beauty pageant and you are bound to have some funny situations. But there is also some pathos in this movie and that's what I love about it the most. There is a sort of melancholy heart warming as you watch this loser family face tragedy after tragedy and yet still they keep on trying and they come closer together because of their defeats. This feeling is almost better than the humor.

My only problem with the movie was that it was too short, but it's mix of humor, pathos and excellent acting makes it a wonderful movie to watch (and an excellent nominee for Best Picture).

As much as we bemoan the conventionality of the Hollywood movie, there is a certain comfort that we take for granted. We know Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan will end up together, that Bruce Willis will kill the SOB who shot his wife, that ET will not only phone home, but will actually get back there. So, it is with a sense of trepidation that I wade into "independent" cinema, because those conventions are stripped bare. Watching "Little Miss Sunshine" I was strongly reminded of the initial run of "Napoleon Dynamite" (a film to which this bears more than a passing resemblance), where I laughed nervously, and didn't really know what I was in for until it was all said and done. And so it is that Little Miss Sunshine does defy conventions, only to a slight degree, owing as much to "National Lampoon's Vacation" as to anything. Once you settle in though, you know you are in for a treat. Is this Academy Award material? Likely no, but it is an impressive achievement in that it packs 5 unlikable people (and 1 slightly homely, but adorable little girl, who is the glue of this dysfunctional family) into a VW minibus, takes them on a roadtrip, and on the way, makes us care about all of them. Like Napoleon Dynamite, it owes much of its charm (and re-watchability) to a dance sequence near the end. To describe it here would not do it justice. But let's just say that it revels in the sleaziness of little girl beauty pageants, and then does an amazing thing, by lowering the bar. "Little Miss Sunshine", were it not for a foul-mouthed turn by Alan Arkin (as a grandfather no one should have), and the bit with the highway patrolman, would be the triumphant family comedy of the year. As it is, watch it after the pre-teens have gone to bed and enjoy!

This film is odd, unique, heartbreakingly sad at moments, and often very very funny. It's full of emotion and love and everyone involved does such a good job with presenting their problems and their support for one another, and all in all the film was very touching, and lovely to watch.

Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Farris
Starring Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Steve Carell, Paul Dano, Toni Collette and Abigail Breslin
102 minutes

Video:
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1

Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: DTS 5.1
Portuguese: DTS 5.1

Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Cantonese, Korean, Thai

Little Miss Sunshine was nominated for four Oscars, with Alan Arkin winning for best supporting actor and Michael Arndt taking home the award for best original screenplay. Abigail Breslin was also nominated and the film was included in the best picture category.

I listed so many of the cast because this dark comedy is filled with good performances.

Olive Hoover (Breslin) qualifies for a beauty pageant which is set to take place 700 miles away. The family includes a heroin addict grandfather (Arkin), an aspiring motivational speaker father (Kinnear), a brother who has taken a vow of silence (Dano), a suicidal uncle (Carell) and a mother who tries to hold everything together (Collette).

As several of the family members can't be trusted to survive alone, the entire family decides to make the trip in their old Volkswagen van.

The comedy isn't dumb, despite the highly unlikely and sometimes unbelievable situations. The story is mainly driven by dialogue with the exception of a couple of situations.

The conclusion shows what happens when they finally arrive in California for the pageant.

It's R-rated for language, drug references and references to sex. Perhaps the most offensive thing was seeing how little girls are presented as women in the pageant. It's just a grotesque world.

It's not easy to make me laugh and I am typically wary of any movie involving Carell, but this style of humour worked for me. Nobody put in a bad performance and I did laugh out loud a couple of times. I enjoyed every minute.

The presentation was excellent for such a low budget movie. Picture quality was good throughout and deserves a 4.5/5. Audio did the job and dialogue was clear (4/5).

I would recommend this intelligent comedy to anyone who doesn't need to be bullied into laughter with slapstick.

This is the type of story that has plenty of replay value as it will be fun to revisit these people and spend a while in their dysfunctional lives. For those wondering whether it's worth upgrading to the Blu-ray, I heartily recommend this presentation.

Every year has at least one quirky movie that really captures your heart and imagination, and in the year 2006, that little movie was "Little Miss Sunshine."

Yes, it's another dark comedy about a quirky, dysfunctional family. But "Little Miss Sunshine" approaches the family dysfunction from a bizarre, smart, and sometimes slightly nuts perspective. This indie movie deserves all the credit that is being heaped on it -- it's truly glorious.

Richard (Greg Kinnear) is an anxious motivational speaker who talks a lot about "winners" and "losers," which is pretty funny when one considers that his family is full of oddities. His wife Sheryl (Toni Colette) is on edge as Richard inflicts his nine-step program on the family, and her Proust-scholar brother has just arrived, after a failed suicide attempt.

And then there's little Olive (Abigail Breslin) -- she's wants to be in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant, and is being coached by her outspoken, heroin-snorting grandfather. When she gets into the pageant, the family piles into a minibus to go to Redondo Beach. Unfortunately, the trip exposes all the problems they have -- death, disappointment, suicide and lost dreams. And a broken clutch.

If you're going to make a dark comedy about a family, then for crying out loud, give it a heart. "Little Miss Sunshine" realizes this, in a little family world where a wordless hug speaks more than dozens of empty lines. These people drive each other crazy, don't ever communicate, but they really do love each other -- yes, even foulmouthed Grandpa.

But lest anyone think it's syrupy, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris wrap it in a wicked cocoon of clever humor. "Sarcasm is the refuge of losers," Richard says smugly, only to receive a sarcastic "REALLY?" He's not the only one: each character has his or her own odd spots, and a unique way of expressing it. ("High school's your prime suffering years! You don't get better suffering than that!").

And while a road trip sounds dull, Dayton and Faris drop little incidents through it that keep it fresh, even if it's just hiccups from the horn. The climax of the strangeness is the "Fawlty Towers"esque smuggling of a dead body, and a truly surreal song-and-dance sequence. It has to score a 9.5 on the "bizarre endings" scale.

Abigail Breslin is a simply brilliant little actress -- cute, yet not cutesy -- and she tends to fill up the screen with her natural appeal. The other actors wear their parts like comfy old sweaters, such as Colette's weary mother and her business-obsessed hubby, not to mention Alan Arkin's priceless turn as the drug-snorting patriarch.

"Little Miss Sunshine" is a comedy as dark as it is funny, but somehow it never becomes depressing. Instead, it's a little gem of an indie film.

Six people in a mini-bus

Driving from Albuquerque

These folk are so dysfunctional

They're way past being "quirky"

Dad's nine steps are faltering

Mom's just tired and stressed

Granddad's snorting heroin

While Uncle is depressed

Brother's chosen to be mute

His family gets him down

Olive only wants a chance

To win a pageant crown

Trouble brews along the way

In every shape and form

The mishaps and catastrophes

Just seem to be the norm

They almost miss young Olive's chance

To strut across the stage

The only pageant entrant who

Looks like her natural age

Most people stick together

When it's family on the line

So if you're feeling kinda low

Watch Little Miss Sunshine

Amanda Richards

"Little Miss Sunshine" is a great film that lives up to its audience and critical acclaim. Screen writer Michael Arendt does a great job of telling the story of the Hoover family. Each character has their own demons to battle. The father (Greg Kinnear) is trying to promote his 9 step program to success. Toni Collette is the mom who tries to support everyone's ambitions, from her husbands program to her daughters dream to win a beauty pageant. Steve Carrell plays her brother, a gay scholar who is suicidal. Paul Dano is the son who has taken a vow of silence, while Alan Arkin plays the fowl mouthed grandfather who uses drugs. Packed in a yellow VW van for a cross country trip, each is forced to deal with their own problems. There are several good performances in this movie, which is especially good for this character driven plot. Steve Carrell's performance is great, in what is a departure from his roles in "The Office" as well as "The Daily Show". Abigail Breslin is also excellent in this movie. Her portrail of a young girl who dreams of competing in the cut throat world of child pageantry is fun to watch. However, it is Alan Arkin who provides the most memorable scenes, both comedic and dramatic.

The movie has funny moments throughout, many of which come from keeping the van running. However, it's the character relationships that keep the movie interesting. The best of which is the bond between the grandfather and his granddaughter. Arkin's character clearly has his problems, drug use being one. However, his love for Olive is apparent throughout the movie. Don't be intimidated by the hype surrounding this movie. It's well worth seeing.

A truly great movie and worth all the praise it has received. One of my favourite movies of 2006. Beginning as a almost gloomy film, you can't help but get completely enthralled by the characters thanks to a superb script and a wonderful cast. Although this appears to be one of those "dark" comedies that everyone puts on their "best of list" to make them look intelligent and sofisticated (but really isn't funny all)...this is actually pretty funny. Oh, and no matter how mild it may seem on the outside - don't watch it with your kids.