Little Miss Sunshine

Directed by: Jonathon Dayton & Valerie Faris
Written by: Michael Arndt
Starring: Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Alan Arkin
Genre: Comedy/Drama

I have no reservations in saying that Little Miss Sunshine is the best comedy to come out of 2006, whilst at the same time being one of the most touching movies you are ever likely to come across. After sitting through so many movies where you end up thinking about nothing else but the pointless waste of millions of dollars that went into making the film, Little Miss Sunshine shows that the greatest movies can be made without costing the equivalent of a small nation’s GDP.

A massive success at the Sundance Film Festival, this movie is the directorial debut of husband and wife directing team Jonathon Dayton and Valerie Faris, who show such incredible insight and talent with this production that surely they will have a great future in film-making (and never have to make music videos again, which was their previous calling). The hilarious and perfectly constructed script, written by another first timer, Michael Arndt, is a further highlight.

The story revolves around the Hoover family and their trip from Albuquerque to California for a pre-teen beauty pageant in a beat up and broken down old VW van. Insanely funny situations result, as well as some heartfelt and touching moments you will not forget in a hurry.

The Hoovers themselves are a dysfunctional and oddball assortment of characters who never the less show what the true meaning of families is all about – which is that no matter how screwed up your family is, they are still family, and sometimes they just might be all you really have. This was the underlying theme that pervades the movie, and there are many times where you might not be able to help reflecting on your own family and how you feel about them.

Richard Hoover (Greg Kinnear) is a Tony Robbins-like motivational speaker who has developed his own program called “Nine Steps”. The irony is that while he is a “positivity-machine”, he is bordering on complete failure, and if he can’t get his program sold he is facing total financial disaster. Kinnear plays this role perfectly, and shows with subtle facial expressions and consistent body language the pressure he is under despite his pretence. Watch for the scene towards the end where he sees himself reflected in the corny beauty pageant emcee, and the realisation of what he has become, for some fantastic character acting. Sheryl (a perfectly understated Toni Collette) is his supportive and devoted wife who struggles to hold everyone together, financially and emotionally. Her po-faced son from a previous marriage, Dwayne (Paul Dano), spends his days reading Nietzsche and refusing to talk until he has achieved his goal of being accepted into flight academy. Sheryl’s brother, Frank (Steve Carell), the self-proclaimed leading Proust scholar in the country, is also staying with the family. He is on a professional hiatus following a failed relationship with a grad student (who funnily-enough runs off with the 2nd best Proust Scholar in the country). Frank is recovering from a failed suicide attempt and is an emotional wreck, but like the others, devoted to his family. Carell is a rising superstar of comedy, especially after this role and his first movie, “40 Year Old Virgin”, owing to his perfect timing and charisma. Alan Arkin plays Grandpa, who now lives on the Hoover’s couch after developing a heroin snorting habit and being kicked out of his retirement home. Grandpa takes on the role of training 7 year old Olivia (sweet Abigail Breslin) for her first beauty pageant, which is of course the sought-after Holy Grail of the movie and the destination of their 3 day road trip. Another character worth mentioning is the VW itself…watch what they need to do to get it started and try not to split your sides every time, it is absolutely brilliant.

The family, road trip and eventual pageant are an effective combination that shines a spotlight on the definition of being a winner and a loser in America, and how incredibly ugly some people can become in pursuit of “making it”. It demonstrates how important it is to appreciate what you have; to live in the moment and not be completely consumed by societal imposed expectations of success and failure. This movie manages to do all of these things and so much more within the context of a laid back and fun-to-absorb story.

Little Miss Sunshine didn’t receive a huge amount of box office fanfare, but have no doubt that is simply because it wasn’t marketed and financed by a large mainstream film studio. There-in lies the beauty of this film; it is story and character driven, and one of those few gems where the directing, script, acting and production combine to perfection with no weak link. It is a movie that at times will have you falling out of your seat with laughter, while at others holding back a tear and reflecting on your own life and family.

It is so unpretentious that it is irresistible. Don’t miss it.

OVERALL – 4 ½ stars out of 5