A perfect vision of the American stereotype

Rating: 10/10 (23 August 2006)

Personally this movie came out of nowhere to me, no ads, and some posters here and there. But I would have never expected it to be one of the best movies of the summer. The beginning of the movie starts out with Miss America,and how Olive (Abigail Breslin)is imitating what the winner does because its her life long dream to be beautiful and famous. But in reality shes cute and brains and couldn't compare to the women in the contest. But she always pushes herself to finding that dream.
The storyline picks up when the family is introduced while they are sitting down having dinner eating fried chicken. Richard (Greg Kinnear) is a struggling father in the verge of bankruptcy who is trying to sell a product that no one wants to buy. Frank (Steve Carrel), the main reason I wanted to see the movie is a suicidal graduate who fell in love at the wrong time. Dwayne (Paul Dano) is on a bow of silence until he reaches his goal of becoming a pilot. And the mother Sheryl (Toni Collette), and grandfather (Alan Arkin) are the balancing pin of the family, who just want to keep it together.
But thats not where the American stereotype comes in, it comes in at the end when they finally get to the LMS contest. And the family is seemingly worried in Olives chances for winning, because other families had "overreacted" and created monsters out of 7 year old girls. Yet Olive still wants to do the competition but in despite of her talent of dancing didn't win, but the family joined her in the final dance. And to me that symbolized that no one in the end needs to be happy with the things they don't have. Bankruptsy, Divorce and drugs doesn't mean that a family cant be stable. And making fun of a culture that goes way over boarder and creating a rule that all endings must have the goal that the characters want to reach completed. Rather than being happy with the fact that they still stand together.
Phenomenal filmaking. 10 out of 10 Hector Sanchez-benitez (Nacho)