The Sun is Shining Brightly on this Film

Rating: 10/10 (30 April 2007)

Very rarely has a film of this nature come out of nowhere and pleased so many audiences. "Sunshine" is one of the most intelligent and downright funny comedies that I have ever seen. The Oscar-winning script is relentlessly witty, the plot is far from cliché, the length is not too long or too short, the characters are clever, and the performances are all stupendous.
The basic story is really quite simple. A young girl and her incredibly dysfunctional family must go on a road trip across America so that the girl can participate in the Little Miss Sunshine Pageant. Simple and bland? You might think so if you'd never seen the film.
The leading roles in this film belong to Greg Kinnear, Toni Colette, and the great Steve Carell. Kinnear, one of the most underrated actors of our time, plays, Richard, the insufferable loser that fathers the family. Toni gives another good performance as Sheryl, the dissatisfied wife who is growing fed up with her ambitious and hopeless husband.In a fantastic performance, Steve Carell steals the show as Frank, Sheryl's brother, a depressed Pruitt scholar who remains likable the entire film without seeming too sentimentalized or bland.
This movie is not flashy or over the top. I mean this as a positive thing. Instead of simply filming ridiculous and over-the-top slapstick scenes, this film focuses on smart humor to win the crowds over. The scenes in the film range from simple (dinnertime in the Hoover household), to sick and disturbing (the hospital scene and the pageant). Nothing is glamorized or made uglier. Things are simply the way they are. This movie is phenomenal and in my opinion, it should have won the Oscar. Go see it!!!!!!!!!!