An insult to anyone with a shred of intelligence

Rating: 1/10 (2 February 2010)

I won't repeat everything that all the negative reviews have already said.
I will say this, though: those claiming that to slate this film is to miss the point of dark humor, etc., let me point you in the direction of one of my favorite films, Welcome To the Dollhouse.
Welcome To the Dollhouse is everything LMS purports to be but isn't. Irony, irreverence, hyperbole and humor are actually used to good effect, to deliver an actual message. LMS gets its tone all wrong: it's slapstick meets sentimental with corny and crude thrown in. The overall outcome is a plot so obvious in its desired effect, so contrived, so dumbed down and so painfully executed, I still can't believe people defend it.
Toni Collette is one of the actresses I respect the most, so to see her talent eclipsed by bad dialogue and faux-emotion is very depressing indeed.
If this film has something to say about family dysfunction or the hypocrisy of child beauty pageants, it fails miserably. Much, much more is achieved in, say, an average "intelligent" sitcom episode.
One final point is that the characters are utterly unlikable. Most films, even if relying on caricature, make their characters sympathetic, nuanced or three-dimensional on some level. LMS does neither.
I can't stress how awful this film truly is.