Another indie triumph over Hollywood garbage

Rating: 9/10 (29 August 2006)

Hollywood needs to wake up. It has been generally decided that this summer film season has been predominantly disappointing, but I am going to have to disagree. Not because I think that any major studio has pumped out anything remotely respectable, with the possible exception of the beautifully photographed Miami Vice, but because I saw some of my favorite films of the year this summer, it just took some looking.
That said, I have added Little Miss Sunshine to my list of films released this summer that not only should have made more money than every major studio release, but should also have been played in every theatre in the country.
I have waited months to see this comedic gem. Released on July 26, following the Best Feature award from the 2006 Sydney Film Festival and a standing ovation at the renowned Sundance Film Festival, it has been one of the most talked about and critically acclaimed films of the year.
The Hoovers are a deranged family that, because of personal issues, can barely handle spending dinner together. Their tolerance for each other is tested when Olive (Abigail Breslin), the younger of the two siblings, qualifies for the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant in Redondo Beach, California. Because of financial and personal complications, the entire family is forced to embark on a two-day road trip in their clunky yellow VW bus so that Olive can follow her dream of winning the pageant.
While this may sound like the beginning of your ho-hum family adventure flick, the foul- mouthed drug-addicted grandfather (Alan Arkin) alone is enough to make Clark Griswold blush.
That is where the film succeeds. Because of its unrestrained vulgarity and general absurdity, it is not only personally relatable but also satirical towards the films that it calls to mind.
Any time that the film is tempted to get overly touchy-feely, it restrains itself gracefully and reminds the viewer of its ludicrous bearing.
Especially notable is the way the family is forced to work together every time that its bus needs to start moving. Because of some complications with the gears, the bus must be pushed until it is moving fast enough to be put into third gear, whereupon said pushers must sequentially run ahead and jump into the opened side door.
A superb cast could only have pulled off such acts of both physical and emotional comedy. As the strongpoint of the film, its spot-on cast carries it above and beyond an otherwise failed attempt at a wonderful script.
Greg Kinnear perfectly portrays Richard Hoover's capricious personality as he fights back his shortening nerves with the advice of his own nine-step program on how to be a winner. Steve Carell delivers his most touching and subtly hilarious performance of his career as Toni Collette's post-suicidal relationship-troubled homosexual brother.
Every scene of Little Miss Sunshine humbly and hysterically leads to the incredible final sequence, which will no doubt be remembered as a classic moment in film.
It's about time that a truly great film this summer is starting to get national recognition and distribution. Sadly, generally dismissed achievements like A Scanner Darkly and Scoop will probably get lost in the shuffle, and we can only hope for the best for the unlikely success of the wildly funny Strangers With Candy. Hopefully, Little Miss Sunshine can act as a wake up call to the film industry to recognize the ever-present superiority of independent films.