Saturday, March 03, 2007

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

A family of misfits trek across the country to a beauty pageant in the dark comedy, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. Olive, the youngest member of the Hoover household, has qualified for the Little Miss Sunshine pageant thanks to another contestant’s disqualification. With little time or money to spare, the entire Hoover clan climbs aboard their VW van en route to the pageant. The Hoover family’s trip may be a little more stressful than your average vacation considering its members include a cocaine sniffing Grandpa, a suicidal uncle and a by-choice mute.

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE is one of the best family movies to come around in years, unfortunately it shouldn’t be viewed by the entire family, only ones 17 years of age and older. The plot may seem all too familiar, an odd-ball family’s trip across country, but the characters, humor and comic timing make this film one-of-a-kind. The husband and wife directing tandem of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Ferris are pitch perfect with the tone and attitude of the wonderful script from screenwriter Michael Arndt, and the performances are dead-on. Carell and Kinear reveal fear and frustration both seriously and humorously, Paul Dane’s intensity is on-key as Dwayne, Alan Arkin’s Grandpa is hilarious and Toni Collette is a calming presence in a dysfunctional clan. The key performance though comes from 10-year old Abigail Breslin. Breslin’s Olive is cute and charming, but most importantly brings some semblance of sanity to the craziness that revolves around her. LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE is an odd and dark comedy that finds a ray of hope between sadness and despair.

Grade: A

No comments: