Putting the FUN in DysFUNctional

Rating: 8/10 (10 February 2007)

Has this been a wacky month even for the Gunshine State! Tornadoes ripping through my County, a whacked out astronaut puts on her depends and acts spaced out, and a fellow Texan buys it in Hollywood - Florida, not California. Yes, Anna Nicole Smith was from Mexia, Texas.
I cannot imagine a better setting than this to sit down and watch Little Miss Sunshine. This has to be the most dysfunctional family I have seen since the gang on Married with Children. Dad with his nine steps, grandpa the junkie, the gay uncle who tries to commit suicide, the son who hasn't spoken a word for nine months, and the daughter who resembles one of those American Idol losers that Simon Cowell has fun with trying to win a beauty pageant. This is a family only Al Bundy could love.
Yet, it works. However dysfunctional they are, they manage to get it together in the end and one has to hope they will go on to a better life. Seldom have I seen such great writing, direction, and acting. This is a movie that one will enjoy over and over. I definitely belongs in your DVD collection.
Having said that I wish all the best to Michael Arndt in his quest for an Academy Award for his screenplay. I do not think that anyone else has a chance. Little Miss Sunshine is a movie to enjoy and forget the awards.