Let a little sunshine into your life! (Little Miss Sunshine (DVD))

Member Name: l-m-n-o-p

Product:	Little Miss Sunshine (DVD)
Date:	25/04/07 (141 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Hilarious, touching and well-acted

Disadvantages: Maybe a bit of a predictable message

The indie comedy Little Miss Sunshine made the news when it was picked up by 20th Century Fox for a load of money, after it was a huge success at the Sundance Film Festival. Fox must be glad now, since the film has gone on to be a huge critical success and a pretty big commercial one, winning two Oscars and a nomination for Best Picture in February, as well as a couple of BAFTAs and plenty of other awards.

It tells the story of seven-year old Olive Hoover (played by Abigail Breslin), an ordinary girl from Albuquerque who dreams of becoming a beauty pageant winner. So you can imagine her excitement when, one morning, she receives a call to tell her that she has won the chance to compete in the Little Miss Sunshine competition, held in California!

The Hoovers don’t have a lot of money because of dad (Greg Kinnear)’s work as a failing motivational speaker, so mum (Toni Collette) decides to travel the 800 mile journey in their trusty old bright yellow VW camper van.

Along for the ride is Olive’s brother, Dwayne (Paul Dano), a 15-year old Nietzsche-reading recluse, who has taken a vow of silence until he is accepted into pilot school. Also coming is sex-obsessed granddad (Alan Arkin), who refuses to grow old gracefully after getting kicked out of his retirement home – for snorting heroine.

Uncle Frank (Steve Carell) completes the lineup – a depressed Proust scholar (America’s number one, or so he says) who has to be brought along, since he’s not allowed to be left alone after trying and failing to kill himself.

So this dysfunctional group of misfits sets off on an epic journey to get to the pageant on time, along the way dealing with fights, hilarious setbacks and everything in between! The only problem is – where’s Olive?!

Let’s get straight to the point – Little Miss Sunshine is probably the funniest film of 2006, and one of the best I’ve seen overall. It’s the kind of film that makes you laugh and go “aww”, but at the same time has moments of real emotion, and doesn’t shy away from the darker side of life. The tone can sometimes change surprisingly quickly, but it’s always done smoothly. It’s quite satirical towards America’s obsession with “winners” and “losers”, and it’s a comedy with a serious message.

Saying that, though, the film just moves from one hilarious situation to the next, as well as having some funny running jokes, such as the way they all have to push the van then run and jump into it. The Oscar-winning screenplay is excellent, full of sarcastic one-liners from Frank and granddad, but on the whole it’s a very good-natured, warm-hearted comedy rather than a cynical one. The finale is particularly fantastic – it’s hilarious but also touching, and manages to convey its message without becoming sentimental.

Whilst all the characters are deliberately and almost predictably quirky, they’re made believable by the great performances of the whole cast; indeed, it’s one of the best ensemble pieces I’ve seen in a while. Kinnear and Collette have proved in As Good As It Gets and About A Boy that they can do comedy very well indeed, and they’re both excellent here, albeit slightly overshadowed by the other actors.

Paul Dano is surprisingly good as the self-imposed mute, and Steve Carell (one of my favourite actors) proves that as well as being really really funny in a silly way, he can actually act and do more restrained stuff. In fact, compared to these two, I don’t know why Alan Arkin was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, let alone won the award! He was just as funny as any of the others, but his performance didn’t really jump out at be as being special.

The star of the show, as most people will say, is Abigail Breslin, who is an absolute joy to watch all the way through. Armed with oversized glasses and a cheeky smile, she’s both cute and lovable, but can also act really well! She’s super(freaky) as Olive, showing that it’s best to just stay true to yourself, and her pure happy innocence creates lots of laughs when contrasted with the weary sarcasm of Arkin and Carell. Her excited reaction when she gets the invitation is probably the funniest moment of the whole film.

There’s also a cameo from Chloe O’Brien! (Mary Lynn Rajskub) What more can you ask for?!

Combined with a perfectly-fitting soundtrack and good, simple direction from the two directors, husband and wife team Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, Little Miss Sunshine really is a brilliant film. It’s joyful and uplifting without being unrealistic or saccharine, and most importantly, it’s laugh-out-loud practically the whole way through.

It had received a lot of hype and praise, and I’d been looking forward to watching it ever since its release, but it definitely lived up to my expectations and more!
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You can buy Little Miss Sunshine on DVD for £6.98 from www.amazon.co.uk.

Directed by: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

Starring:

Greg Kinnear … Richard Hoover
Toni Collette … Sheryl
Abigail Breslin … Olive
Alan Arkin … Granddad
Paul Dano … Dwayne
Steve Carell … Frank

Classification: 15 (language, some sex and drug content)

Running time: 101 minutes

Year: 2006

My rating: 5 stars

Summary: A heart-warming road trip comedy - but it's good!