Little Miss Sunshine

I just saw this film a couple of days ago and I still have a smile on my face when I think of the climax of Little Miss Sunshine. This movie was voted the audience favourite at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, and deservedly so. The plot is simple: a quirky family goes on a road trip to enter their daughter in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. The travel time in the VW bus is filled with wonderful moments that are both eccentric and relatable. But the big pay-off comes at the beauty pageant where the audience is faced with images that are satirical, hysterical and just plain creepy. This movie is a breath of fresh-air after enduring the heavily hyped summer blockbusters, much like Garden State was couple of years ago. Of course, what makes this movie so enjoyable is the stellar cast.

While Greg Kinnear and Toni Collete have some fine moments as the parents of this dysfunctional family, it’s the rest of the group that add life to the yellow VW bus. Adam Arkin (Grosse Pointe Blank) is wonderfully confrontational as a cocaine-snorting, sex-addicted grandfather; the quintessential dirty old man. Abigail Breslin (Signs) is so innocent and adorable that you’ll be tempted to sigh “Awwww” at numerous points in the film. One of my favourite characters was played by Paul Dano (The Girl Next Door) who has the least amount of dialogue in the film. But that’s because he’s taken a vow of silence. Dano does a pitch-perfect job of playing the teenager who hates his family.

Of course, the big draw for this film is the fantastic Steve Carell. I find it funny that when he made this film, he was one of the least known actors in the cast; he was actually a risk for the studio that initially wanted Bill Murray for the role. But who could blame the studio, The 40 Year Old Virgin hadn’t come out yet and The Office was just a blip on the TV schedule in its first year. Now the ads are filled with shots of Steve Carell in hopes to get a younger crowd interested in this indie film. What worried me when the film started was the person next to me who chuckled every time Carell graced the screen, even though he plays a depressed, suicidal professor in the movie. Luckily, the stranger next to me got into the film and laughed when it was appropriate. Carell does a great job playing a semi-serious role, which shows he can do more than straight-up comedy.

Right now this film is in limited release (I had to go to Tinseltown in Vancouver) but hopefully it will be playing at a theatre near you. I highly recommend this film to all, and while you may question my judgment when the film starts, you will see what I mean by the time the credits roll. After you watch it, let me know what you think, I’d be surprised if you didn’t feel the same joy that the audience at Sundance felt.