170) Little Miss Sunshine
Director: Johnathon Dayton and Valerie Faris
Year: 2006
Plot Summary: A family determined to get their young daughter to the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in a VW bus
A delightful road movie, Little Miss Sunshine is so heartwarming, funny and light that it radiates through your screen like a little droplet from heaven or a ray of sunlight on a cloudy day.
It tells the story of a dysfunctional Alberquerque family who, when their daughter has the chance to compete in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant in Rodondo Beach, California, take to the road in their old yellow van.
The family and their chemisty - or lack thereof - is what really drives the narrative in Johnathon Dayton and Valerie Faris' movie. While they are as dysfuctional as any family in cinema, they are also so delightful that it's impossible to not enjoy looking in on their lives for 100 minutes. Regardless of their flaws as human beings or their often completely ridiculous situations, moreover, it's easy to see yourself in the characters in Little Miss Sunshine and it makes their personal journeys relatable and affecting.
It also helps, furthermore, when they are performed this well by the ensemble cast. Steve Carrell stands out in a role not only confirms his mastery at comic delivery but also proves he can be a great dramatic actor. Paul Dano is also a delight to watch as, though he is silent for much of the movie, he is still able to provide some wonderfully dead pan moments of hilarity. But the real star of Little Miss Sunshine is the Oscar winning performance by Alan Arkin. The fact that his character's lovable vulgarity and obscenity is missed whenever he's not on screen says volumes about him. He lights up the movie with every single line inducing laughter.
The film suffers, however, from the fact that it's built on parts rather than a whole. Yes, it is connected by the theme of, as Dwayne puts it towards the end, "do what you want and fuck the rest", but it does become a little overly episodic from the half-way point onwards. Furthermore, some of these parts, quite honestly, don't need to be in the movie and are there just for the purposes of comedy. The scene when they are pulled over, for example, though one of the funniest moments in Little Miss Sunshine, adds nothing to the narrative development or characters.
It's major fault, moreover, is the fact that, because it's set over a short road trip from New Mexico to California, the characters' actions very often feel unrealistic and unfitting. One glaring example is after the death of a major character when, for a minutes of the screen time, the family are in mourning, but then very quickly recover from the death and resume normal life. Of course, it's crucial to the movie that they overcome the death in order to return to the comedy, but it nevertheless feels uncomfortable for the viewer.
As enjoyable an indie comedy that American cinema has released, but still one that is let down by some glaring flaws in the writing.
3/5
2 comments:
I love this film to death! From the aesthetic, to the dialogue, to the reality of the characters, and the fact that every single obstacle they come across genuinely feels like it could derail the whole trip, which is rare for these types of films. I enjoy it for the poignancy and comedy, shame you found it more messy.
No, no, no, don't get me wrong, I do really like this film. The characters, the writing and the overall theme makes it overcome the faults.
I just don't think it's a GREAT movie though.
I'd happily put it on for for a few laughs, but I've never been really affected by it.
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