Bittersweet road comedy with genuine heart

Rating: 8/10 (10 September 2006)

Little Miss Sunshine
I must confess, what ultimately drew me to this smaller, indie black comedy was the prospect of seeing Steve Carell, one of my very favourite actors since his turn as brain dead weatherman Brick Tamland in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, play a more serious role as a gay suicidal professor. The concept sounded too great - it could either be a more serious, affecting role, or be twisted on its head for a more morbid comedic role. Well as for Carell's character, in the end he manages a good amount of both, and in fact the same could be said for the entire movie. For although I had come to see a single performance, in the end I discovered a wonderful, moving comedy with smears of poignant drama and a real heart and soul to it.
The story follows an incredibly dysfunctional, yet still lovable family, including the incredibly success oriented yet unemployed and unspectacular motivational speaker dad, (Greg Kinnear) the stressed out yet constantly trying to be there for her family mom, (Toni Collette) her brother, a recently fired prestigious university professor just out of the hospital after attempting to kill himself, (Steve Carell) the constantly angry grandfather who tries to relieve his cynicism by buying porn and snorting heroin, (Alan Arkin) the mute by choice world weary adolescent son, (Paul Dano) and finally adorable seven year old daughter Olive (Abigale Breslin) who only dreams of winning a beauty pageant. The drifting apart and seemingly more incompatible family is forced to band together for a road trip when it appears Olive's dream has finally been realised, and she is given the chance to compete in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant.
First time screenwriter Michael Arndt must be given tremendous credit for such a masterful piece of work, as should co-directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris for bringing such a wonderful piece of writing to life. The filmmakers have succeeded wonderfully in creating a myriad of fresh and interesting characters, noticeably flawed yet ultimately lovable despite their foibles. The tone of the movie is also unique, balancing the fine line between black comedy and sweet but not syrupy film boasting the true values of family and success. Somehow Little Miss Sunshine gets away with this obscure crossing of genres while creating a movie that will have viewers laughing hysterically and close to tears in turn.
The pitch perfect cast is what makes the movie really succeed, with the adorable Breslin capturing every viewer's heart as little Olive but delivering a surprisingly affecting performance as well, outshining almost all fellow child actors in this day and age. Greg Kinnear is also wonderful as the macho father who promotes the values of winning above all else, despite the fact it is a quality he himself sorely lacks in his life. Toni Collette is terrific as the harried mother, trying to hold keep her eccentric family together. Paul Dano is great and often hilarious as their silent son, easily holding his own with his much older co-stars despite the fact that he has no dialogue for almost the entire duration of the film. But my two favourite performances out of a cast chock full of masterful ones are Alan Arkin as the sarcastic grandfather who still believes in "living it up" and Steve Carell, who blends a poignant, affecting sympathetic dramatic performance with his more usual light hearted humorous side in a truly masterful piece of acting. I wouldn't be at all surprised, and in fact quite happy, if Carell ended up with a Golden Globe or Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
All in all, Little Miss Sunshine may be bittersweet, and expect to tear up many a time, but the laughs outweigh the sadness in this bittersweet yet lovable comedy about the true meaning of family and success in one's life, not to mention taking a much needed shot at the frightening states of children's beauty pageants, contrasting the refreshingly normal Olive with her disturbingly fake looking fellow contestants. Little Miss Sunshine is one of the most unique and very well made films of this year, for those in search of a laugh, albeit a thoughtful one, this one is definitely worth a watch.
-8/10