Let the SUNSHINE In

Rating: 10/10 (10 September 2006)

The Hoovers: combine an honest mother, a father whose career is on the fritz, a silent Nietzsche-obsessed brother, a drug-addicted grandfather, a suicidal uncle and a girl who just wants her moment to "Shine" and you get one of the most dysfunctional families on earth. The new comedy, Little Miss Sunshine, tells the story of a family who drives from New Mexico to California in hopes that their 7-year old daughter, Olive (Abigail Breslin, Signs) can win the "Little Miss Sunshine" pageant. With an ensemble cast that includes Greg Kinnear (As Good as It Gets), Toni Collete (The Sixth Sense), and Steve Carrell (TV's The Office) one would expect a movie that produces "I laughed so hard, I cried" reactions. Yet, this is one of the best movies to use intelligent humor to attract and hook its audience. Perhaps it was expecting to see Steve Carrell be as outrageously funny as he was in such blockbusters as The 40-Year Old Virgin and Anchorman that was a downer. It is Carrell however, whose performance is serious and subtly funny at the same time. Carrell plays Frank, Olive's gay, suicidal, Proust scholar uncle who needs constant supervision. It was awkward and fascinating to watch Carrell play a serious character. While his performance is worthy of all the praise it has been given thus far, it is not the performance that drew much attentionat least from the audience I viewed it with. Paul Dano, a relative newcomer, seems to overshadow his costars. Dano plays Dwayne, Olive's teenage brother who has taken a vow of silence until he is admitted into the Air Force Academy. I should have guessed from the moment I saw Dwayne's mural of Nietzsche and "I hate everyone" scribbled on his notepad, that his cynical view of the world would be the most interesting. It is his observations during the film that provide some of the most comedic moments such as his various facial expressions and witty remarks on his notepad to his odd-ball family. There is another uncredited character in the film that provides some of the best laughsthe family's VW bus. Starting in New Mexico, the audience follows this bright yellow bus 700 miles west to California with several mishaps along the way. A key moment in the film occurs when the stick-shift breaks leaving only two functioning gears. The family is then forced to push the bus to get it rolling and do some clever stunt-work by jumping in after it gains some momentum. This visual gives the film one of its many themesto chase your dream. Finally, it is when the Hoover family, sans grandfather, reaches the pageant when the film becomes the most heartbreaking. With visuals that seem to be taken from documentaries about kiddie pageants, such as a mother spray-tanning her daughter and a over-the-top host, Olive seems to be out of her element. Wanting to spare his daughter the embarrassment of performing, Richard (Kinnear) tries to convince his wife Sheryl (Collette) to pull Olive from the competition. That comes only after Richard pleads with a pageant official to let Olive compete when they arrive just five minutes late for registration. Sheryl tells her husband "Why can't we let Olive just be Olive?" The film's message is perhaps wrapped up in that simple quoteto just let people be who they are without trying to fit them into a mold. Little Miss Sunshine is hopeful and heartbreakingly funny with a talented cast that is worth seeing on the big screen. This film has been called "too real" by some, but it is its realism that gives it humor. Go see this film, it's worth it.