The girl's a super freak!

Rating: 10/10 (7 December 2007)

Its rare that you come across a film as genuine and outstanding as Little Miss Sunshine. It is so simple, yet so effective. The plot and dialogue are also original and fantastic, but it is the characters that make this film unmissable.
The Hoover's are a slightly dysfunctional middle-class family from Albuquerque. The father Richard (Greg Kinnear) is the wannabe motivational speaker attempting to make it big. Toni Collette is the family 'glue' as always holding it all together as the mother, Sheryl. Steve Carell is Uncle Frank, the failed gay academic who recently attempted suicide. Alan Arkin, brilliant as the foul-mouthed, promiscuous, drug-using Grandfather. Paul Dano also fantastic as the silent and reclusive 15-year old son, Dwayne.
And then there is Olive (Abigail Breslin), whose performance I will speak of in more depth. Olive is chosen as a contestant in the beauty pageant 'Little Miss Sunshine' to be held in California. And so, these six very different character set off on a wacky road-trip, filled with laughter and tragedy.
Abigail Breslin is simply mesmerizing, as the refreshingly innocent, naive and cheerful Olive. Certainly it would have to go down as one of the best performances by a child actress (aged 10) in film history. For that matter, every character is just superb. Good acting unquestionably, but the development of the characters themselves. Whilst initially they all appear (and are) flawed in their own ways. By the end of the film we have seen the best of all of them, and they have seen the best of each-other. And that's what makes this film so uplifting - we have this family, on the rocks and whose resolve is being seriously challenged by constant difficulties occurring on the trip. And yet these challenges bring out the best of them and bring them closer as a family. And Olive, the central character unites them in the climax of the film at the beauty pageant, which is one of the most hilarious and brilliant scenes I've seen in cinema! The dialogue is sharp and delivered impeccably. What is so great about this film is there is so many things to take away from it also - to embrace your suffering being the most memorable theme I took out of this and so many more. You will walk away from this film with a great satisfaction, a smile on your face and with a few issues to think about. What more can you ask for? The near (if not) perfect cinematic experience.
YEEEEAAAAAAAAAAH!! ALRIIIIIGHT!!!!!!!