Li'l Miss Sunshine in the Middle (Little Miss Sunshine (DVD))

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Little Miss Sunshine (DVD)
Date:	17/02/07 (175 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very funny, superb observational humour, great script

Disadvantages: 15 cert restricts its audience

Shows like “The Simpsons” and “Malcolm in the Middle” have been huge hits over the last few years. What with their dysfunctional family groups who nearly always get it wrong but stick together through thick and thin, programmes like this have been a showcase for nuclear families all across middle America on how to be yourself and still retain traditional conservative values. It’s that kind of message that’s central to the 2006 drama/comedy “Little Miss Sunshine” (there‘s a certain irony that there’s a cameo from “Malcolm in the Middle’s” Bryan Cranston in the movie) which, spookily, we watched as a family during the half term holidays.

The Hoovers are a dysfunctional family. Richard (Greg Kinnear) is a motivational guru desperate to secure his next contract; mom (Toni Collette) is an open and honest liberal whilst her brother, Frank (Steve Carrell) is recovering from a suicide bid. Her teenage son Dwayne (Paul Dano) is a non-speaking student of Nietzsche and her 7-year-old daughter Olive (Abigail Breslin) is a budding beauty queen. Last but not least, grandpa (Alan Arkin) is a retirement home refugee with a foul mouth and a penchant for drugs. When Olive is announced the winner of a local beauty contest paving the way for her entry into a bigger tournament - Little Miss Sunshine - the family decide to travel the 800 miles to California in a rusty old VW mini-bus as it’s the only way they can afford to get there. Along the way, they stumble across numerous obstacles whilst discovering each other as a family unit rather than a disparate group of individuals with radically different beliefs and values.

Essentially, “Little Miss Sunshine” is a road movie with most of the 101 minute run time taken up by their adventures in the VW. Michael Arndt’s screenplay is top drawer. With a cohesive, tight script and some beautifully timed gags, the film is a superb combination of comedy and pathos, as the drama unfolds and the family reflect on what’s actually important in life. Jonathon Dayton and Valerie Faris are directors I knew little about before seeing this movie but they certainly get the most out of a wonderful cast. With tight shots often using close ups to enhance the thoughts and feelings being emphasized in the various scenes, direction is mainly actor-centric rather than anything more panoramic. The scenes shot around the VW’s hazardous route to the hotel are a triumph and you actually feel as though you are in the mini-bus as it careers along its unconventional route to its final destination.

The acting throughout is immaculately observed. Thoughtful, pensive and often reflective, the cast ride a gamut of emotions that come together for a wonderful finale that most people couldn’t predict. As the central character, Olive is utterly convincing as the little girl with the big dreams. Scared of failure due to her father’s belief that it’s winners that count and everyone else is a loser, it’s ironic that she receives her training from her grandpa and this relationship is adroitly linked with the closing reels that mix stunned shock with the message that you should be yourself and that’s what counts the most in life. Alan Arkin is simply wonderful as the grandfather. A veteran actor with a distinguished CV, he was nominated for an Academy award as best supporting actor for his part in this movie (one of four Oscar nominations for the movie, in general). Brash, indignant yet poignant, his advise to teen Dwayne in the back of the mini-bus is to make love (well, words to that effect if a little more direct) to as many women as possible and to not take drugs like he has and still does now! Rebellious, foul-mouthed and taciturn, grandpa doesn’t see eye to eye with Richard and, of course, you can’t help but feel that his experiences have left him in the box seat when it comes to life experiences. There’s a subtle on-screen chemistry that works well between Sheryl, Richard and grandpa that highlights the clashes between their different views and how they can still be a unit despite their differences. This is nicely underlined when seated in a diner and Richard is trying to convince Olive that successful beauty queens don’t eat ice-cream. Having initially decided not to eat the fatty substance, the rest of the family tease Olive by eating her ice-cream in front of her, goading her into changing her mind and making her realise that she’s still a child and should be having fun.

Paul Dano playing the angst ridden teenager provides much of the platform for the comedy. By not speaking and communicating in nods, shakes of the head and writing on his note pad, Dano is the stereotypical teenager searching for a direction and when he’s thrown into a situation of having to share his room with the attempted suicide, uncle Frank, we have a rich source of rye observational humour that’s summed up when Frank looks to settle for the night in the bed next to Dwayne’s only for the thoughtful teenager to flash a note at him imploring Frank not to kill himself tonight! Steve Carrell’s career continues to go from strength to strength following the success of the American equivalent of "The Office" and the hit movie "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and his part in this movie will have enhanced his already strong CV. With a complicated role of attempted suicide and depressed, gay academic, Carrell carries the part superbly and engages with the other cast to turn what could have been a mundane screenplay into a tour de force.

The movie comes with a great soundtrack with an underlying score akin to a spaghetti western feel that engenders a notion of heading for a final showdown. With the classic disco tune “Super Freak” as the show stopper in the big set piece at the end, the tracks chosen to support the screenplay are a great bonus and fuel the mood of the film.

Movies like “Little Miss Sunshine” are rare gems in a world overflowing with Hollywood blockbusters and action movies. In many ways, films like this are amongst my favorites and whilst there will be a cross-section of people that won’t appreciate what could be construed as middle class preaching of ethical values, if you can get beyond that and absorb the message that there is no right or wrong about who you should be and why, then the film works as a wake up call to the bombardment of conformity that we all experience virtually every second of every day. The movie is rated 15 due to the bad language and reference to drugs and that will limit the audience to adults and older teens. That didn’t stop me from letting my kids watch it who are both under 15 but it depends on your interpretation of the film censor’s ratings and I didn’t anticipate anything within the movie that they won’t have encountered in day to day life anyway. As it turns out, I was right. Funny, dramatic, poignant and well made, “Little Miss Sunshine” is a must see movie if you haven’t seen it already. First class - what more can I say?

Thanks for reading

Mara.

DVD available from Amazon from £12.99
More info at: http://www.littlemisssunshine.com.au/

Summary: Overview of the movie