A darkly enjoyable feel-good comedy

Rating: 8/10 (27 December 2006)

"Little Miss Sunshine" is a fabulous feel-good comedy of a different kind - it is terribly dark, and at times depressing, but makes no apology for it, and it doesn't need to either. The film revolves around a more-than-slightly dysfunctional family who, all with their own subplots, travels to the Little Miss Sunshine Beauty Pagent so that young Olive can enter, and along the way learn a thing or two about each other, and what it means to be part of a family.
The always-excellent Greg Kinnear plays father Richard, a man who means well, but sometimes fails to get across what he means, except of course when it comes to being a winner, as he has a 9-step program so that anyone can find the winner in themselves. However, his attempts to get people to purchase the program have been unsuccessful, causing strain with his wife, Sheryl who is played by the wonderful Toni Collette. Along the way to the Beauty Pagent, they are faced with a marital crisis.
Their marriage is under strain also thanks to Sheryl's suicidal brother Frank (Steve Carrell) who happens to be depressed, and while despite being a genius, cannot sort out his love life, which he practically re-encounters on their journey. Alan Arkin plays Richard's cocaine-addict father, who has been mentoring Olive in her quest to be in the Little Miss Sunshine, which have unexpected results at the pageant itself.
Paul Dano gives a compelling performance as Olive's brother Dwayne who has taken a vow of silence (yes, he is silent for the majority of the film), though he too learns something about himself on their journey and is forced to speak out. Despite fantastic performances from Collette and Kinnear, it is Abigail Breslin who steals the film as Olive. She lightens up the most depressing scenes and is utterly convincing in her innocence.
At times it may feel like "Little Miss Sunshine" is going nowhere, but it is a brilliant showcase of talent and story, which comes to a grand climax at the Little Miss Sunshine pageant, where you can't help but feel sorry for Olive, even though she may not know why anyone would need to feel sorry for her.