Little Miss Sunshine (Little Miss Sunshine (DVD))

Member Name: lady_natalie

Product:	Little Miss Sunshine (DVD)
Date:	13/09/09 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great cast, usual plot, really funny

Disadvantages: it's not full of action, but i don't think it needs to be

Little Miss Sunshine is a fantastic American comedy which focuses on a girl's dream of entering a beauty pageant, entitles Little Miss Sunshine, and the road trip which her and her family take to get her there on time.

Olive had originally come second in a previous beauty pageant, but as the winner in no longer able to participate in the next heat (the little miss sunshine pageant) Olive gets to take her place. But this comes at a difficult time for her family. As they can't afford to fly from New Mexico to California to go to the pageant, they have to drive there in their somewhat dilapidated Volkswagen T2 microbus, and the whole family has to go too. This includes Olives mum and dad, played by Toni Collette (Sheryl) and Greg Kinnear (Richard), along with Sheryl's son (Dwayne)who has taken a vow of silence and Olives granddad, who has helped her make up her dance routine. And so they set off.

The journey that they go on isn't overly eventful, but the little things that happen and how the family members react to each other is what makes this film brilliant. The van has quite a major breakdown quite early into the trip which means that is either has to be parked on a hill or the family have to push it to get it going after every stop. Dwayne has to write down every thought he has during his journey, which he quite defiantly doesn't want to be on, whilst his granddad advises him that the best thing he can do in life is have sex with as many girl as he can whilst he's still underage. Richard dreams of being a motivational speaker and constantly obsesses on his 9 steps he's invented, which apparently is guaranteed to be anyone a winner. Meanwhile Olive is oblivious to her families bizarreness and is totally focused on becoming a beauty queen.

The family arrives at the pageant pretty late on in the film and as soon as they get there it's pretty obvious that Olive isn't a typical beauty pageant girl. As her family worry about how she'll do in the pageant and whether she should actually take part, I could really feel myself worrying too. I was really routing for her at the end of the film, and the pageant really is a great funny ending to a wonderful film.

Little Miss Sunshine has a gentle comedy to it, it is laugh out loud funny at times but it's the kind of film that is generally amusing all the way through, even if you're not in hysterics. This film is easy to watch and pretty different from any other film I've seen. Every member of the family is kind of annoying in some way, but you really get to know and like them by the end of the film. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to watch a genuinely funny film, that's a little different from the norm.

Summary: quirky comedy that's a real must see