Let the sun shine.

Rating: 7/10 (17 June 2015)

With a friend going on holiday in a few days time,I decided to search around for a Comedy film that she could enjoy with her family.Whilst looking round for a Comedy flick,I suddenly remembered hearing about a charming-looking indie Comedy Drama,which led to me getting ready to find out how sunny miss sunshine could be.
The plot:
After her brother Frank tries to kill himself, Sheryl Hoover decides to move Frank in with her husband Richard,his dad Edwin and Sheryl's 2 kids Dwayne & Olive.As Frank attempts to settle into the family,Olive receives news that she has won the chance to enter the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant being held 800 miles away,in 2 days.
Faced with the challenge of reaching the pageant in 2 days,the family decide to make each of the few pennies they have count,by fully supporting Olive and going on the road in their burnt-out micro- bus.As the micro-bus starts clocking up the miles, the family start building up their hopes that the judges will see Olive for the little miss sunshine that she is.
View on the film:
Backed by a shimmering score from Mychael Danna DeVotchKa,husband & wife directing duo Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris give the film a charmingly breezy appearance,thanks to the directors making yellow a prominent colour,which allows for the darkly comedic scenes to have an underlying sweetness.Slowly building up to hilarious slap-stick set pieces,the directors brilliantly underplay the Black Comedy build up,with awkward silences being kept in the air,as each family member discovers how they could make their lives sunnier.
Filling up the micro-bus with an entire family,the screenplay by Michael Arndt cleverly makes sure to give each of the characters their distinctive ,stand out moment,from Dwayne breaking his vow of silence,to Olive finding her grove.Although the movie does slow down as the family start to go off the road,Arndt keeps a keen eye on making the 800 mile journey one filled with sharp turns,thanks to the title smoothly moving between the darkly comedic dramatic flaws of the characters,and the left-field slap-stick set pieces.
Filming the role just before he became famous, Steve Carell gives a brilliant performance as Frank Ginsberg,with Carell giving the events that led to Ginsberg attempted suicide a firm seriously grip,whilst hitting each one liner with a wicked sardonic bite.Sending all the family (and future Breaking Bad co-stars Bryan Cranston & Dean Norris) Abigail Breslin gives a wonderful performance which stays away from being twee or sickly sweet thanks to Breslin giving Olive a real sense of curiosity over the beauty contest and what troubles her family are facing,as they each find their own piece of Little Miss Sunshine.