A Ray of Sunshine in a Dreary Genre.

Rating: 10/10 (10 November 2019)

Every kind of movie genre has potential for greatness. I have to remind myself of this from time to time. The is a certain hopelessness you feel when you watch dozens of trashy horror movies or pretentious art house films without finding a great one. But it's films like Little Miss Sunshine that convince you to keep searching. This movie plays like a lot of would be "feel good" indie pictures. A happy little goofball of a film complete with an offbeat sense of humor and an eclectic group of quirky characters. Those are dangerous waters. Way too often does "quirky" give way to cloying. Except these characters are quirky like real people are, not like overwritten movie characters. And this movie is real and affecting, not tongue in cheek or sarcastic. Little Miss Sunshine is a winner.
The film could be classified as a road movie (another dangerously corny genre), following the extended Hoover family on a road trip to a child's beauty pageant in California, where Abigail Breslin's Olive dreams of competing to be Little Miss Sunshine. The group escorting Breslin there are mom Sheryl (Toni Collette), dad Richard (Gregg Kinnear), sweet gay uncle Frank (Steve Carrell), aspiring Air Force pilot brother Dwayne (Paul Dano), and wise-cracking grandpa Edwin (Alan Arkin). What follows is a delightful series of gags, many of them featuring a beaten up yellow VW van, that slowly build to something emotionally impactful.
The acting from all six of the main players is brilliant. A case could be made for any of them to be nominated for Oscars. Alan Arkin won an Oscar for his prickly grandpa Edwin and Abigail Breslin received deserved acclaim for her winning turn, but the best performance of the film comes from Gregg Kinnear. His character has the widest emotional range, and Kinnear has a deft touch at every step. It's a classically restrained acting job. I have to also mention Toni Collette, who delivers a particularly stirring monologue at a crucial point in the film.
The gags and one-liners could all end up so precious, so self-consciously offbeat. That is death for indie movies. I can't stand it when it's done wrong. So what a surprise it was for me to find myself caught up in this particular group's story. It's because supporting all those fine performances is direction that is restrained and natural. Never once do directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris push for laughs. There is a humble quality to the humor. A "we hope you'll enjoy it, but that's up to you" attitude. And underneath the comedy is sincerity. Faris and Dayton treat these characters as people. People who are susceptible to grief, anger, and sadness, just like the rest of us. They aren't sock puppets speaking the writer's stand up material.
I don't like road pictures or indie movies or quirky comedies. I sometimes find it hard to believe there could be a truly great example of any of the three. But Little Miss Sunshine is special; a great example of all those genres. It's a wonderful movie about family and the special connection they have to all of us. It's hilarious and touching and quirky, yes, in the right way. Little Miss Sunshine may look like other cutesy darlings, but give it a chance and you'll find it a genuine delight.
94/100