One of the best dark comedies around

Rating: 9/10 (22 February 2007)

Little Miss Sunshine is a little drop of sunshine of 2006. With a year that saw some of the best films to be released in awhile (Snakes on a Plane, The Wicker Man, and Bloodrayne just to name a few) Little Miss Sunshine stands helplessly against these awesome films. Little Miss Sunshine is a smart, delicately crafted, dark comedy about the common dysfunctional family of America.
Olive is the only normal one of her family. Her brother has taken a vow of silence, her father is constantly obsessed with succeeding, her grandpa is a heroine addict, her uncle is suicidal, and her mother just tries to live through it all. All their personalities are thrown together when they must reach Los Angeles to get Olive to a beauty pageant.
The story is very strong when presented with the right characters and actors. For an independent film, the strong cast brought together of no names and big stars a like is surprising. The story, which is predominantly inside the VW bus the re driving cross country in. There are no dull points however even with the characters restricted to their seats. There are some hilarious moments of awkwardness and just flat out funny scenes between Alan Arkan and the rest of the cast along with one particular classic moment between a cop and Greg Kinnear on the highway.
Steve Carrell gives, in my opinion, his best performance to date as the laid back suicidal uncle. Everyone thinks of Carrell as a no-talent actor who just does comedy. It's a bad trend going on these days thinking comedy actors can not act. He proves with his role as Frank that he can act and still be funny.
Alan Arkan is not an actor well known to me, I remember him from And Starring Pancho Villa As Himself but that was about it. Alan Arkan's character is the best of the film. He is dirty, he is strange, and he is hilarious. I wouldn't mind seeing Arkan in a lot more roles in the future.
All the actors deliver great performances along with Carrell and Arkan. The little girl, Abigail Breslin, gives a great performance that has earned her an Osar nod. A lot of adults and teenagers a like will enjoy the dialogue between many of the characters and learn a lesson or two about being a family. Warning: this is not a film for families. The word f*ck is present numerous times. Do not show to kids under 14.
Little Miss Sunshine. 4.5/5 Stars