A Nutshell Review: Little Miss Sunshine

Rating: 10/10 (19 September 2006)

This is today's GV Surprise Screening.
For their debut feature length film, directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris probably couldn't ask for a better script - Little Miss Sunshine is a comedic drama which has plenty of heart, even though the characters are misfits put together in a dysfunctional family.
But wait, before you roll your eyes at yet another story with quirky characters, this one probably proved itself to be relatively superior given its easy going delivery, never taking itself too seriously with the messages it tried to put across, and the cast is a joy to behold. Telling the story of the Hoover family's journey cross-country to bring their young daughter to the finals of the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant, it's an insane road trip movie as well in their yellow family mini-van.
Abigail Breslin first made her debut in M Night Shyamalan's Signs as Mel Gibson's daughter, and here she's the wide-eyed adorable child who will just tug at your heartstrings - you'll probably be sympathizing with her character's (mis)fortune with a family like hers. But there's where the fun is, no? The more recognizable actors here will be Steve Carrell (The 40 Year Old Virgin), as her gay scholarly uncle, and Toni Collette (In Her Shoes) as her mom. Rounding up the cast are Greg Kinnear as motivational-inspirational speaker Dad, Paul Dano as her brother who had taken a vow of silence, and Alan Arkin as coke-sniffing, foul- mouthed grandfather who dotes on her.
While the opening might take its time to set the scene, once the family gets together there's no holding back. The dialogues and interactions between characters are fast and snappy, and each character's given enough screen time to showcase their tribulations and respective resolution. Which I found to be deftly done both in script and direction. There was one major loophole spotted, but nothing to mar your enjoyment of the movie.
What I totally liked about the movie, is by the end of it, there's this warm fuzzy feeling that you'll feel about the message brought across, that the strength of family lies in sticking together, and through that, any adversary can be defeated, any troubles overcome. Anything else doesn't matter so long as there's unity, and the movie shows this pretty nicely - the gem of self-discovery together, and the getting out of the rut with support from one another.
The crowd favourite is definitely the finale, which will more than likely to blow you away as it comes rather unexpectedly, and raises a few eyebrows too. At the screening, almost everyone was clapping and cheering, and the last time I experienced that kind of joy, was in the finale of Kinky Boots, which on hindsight, is similar in the kind of feeling it evokes from you. Though I must add that it was kind of unnerving somewhat watching the young performers prance around with their fake plastic smiles, stiff hair and loads of makeup.
In life there are winners and there are losers. Little Miss Sunshine, is definitely a winner. Go watch!