Grapes of Sunshine

Rating: 10/10 (14 October 2007)

All right, this is probably a lame comparison between Little Miss Sunshine and John Ford's Grapes of Wrath but I see it. Both films are about family and what pulls them apart and what holds them together. Greg Kinnear is in his own way Pa Joad trying to provide for his family dealing with economic forces he doesn't understand. Toni Collette is Ma Joad: keeping the family together is everything. Alan Arkin is Grandpa Joad, too old to kid himself and too old to be taken away from his home. Paul Dano is Winfield and a redemptive Connie Rivers. Steve Carell is Casy, a lost tag-a-long who finds his soul. And Abigal Breslin is Rose-of-Sharon who certainly is able to bring life and hope to a family in need of both. And that "beauty pageant," well if not the dust bowl is as devastating of youth and hope as the real thing.
What a great film that can take you apart and bring make you better and so much more appreciative of being a member of a "real" family.