Best movie this year - long review

Rating: 10/10 (20 August 2006)

This just might be the beginning of a great career for first time directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. I could be quoted on saying that Clerks II was the best movie I've seen all summer, but after watching Little Miss Sunshine there's no comparison. Miss Sunshine is most certainly the best I've seen all year. The humor is completely different from Clerks. It's much more real and relatable. It's also a surprise do see Steve Carell in such a different role. He's good, though, and it shows that he can play different roles. One would think Carell would be the center of the comedy but the laughs are mostly connected to the family as a whole and each character adds it's own personality into the comedy. The storyline of the movie is a family traveling from New Mexico to California in a Volkswagen van to enter their 8 year old daughter into the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. Mother, Father, Son, Daughter, Uncle, Grandfather. Each have personalities different from each other making great conflict and humor. One of the funniest things in the movie is this one thing involving the van that reoccurs through out the movie. Check out the poster for a clue of what that one thing is. Don't like spoilers. It shows great symbolism with the family, representing how a family that hates each other must work together to achieves their goals and solve their problems, and it shows how each character came out a happier person in the end. It might sound cliché but trust me the messages aren't being shoved down your throat. You also might be thinking this is some stupid family journey movie and they end up learning to love each other in the end. This is not the RV people. I'd liked to tell you more about the characters to help you understand but I hate giving too much information that will spoil the experience.
There's comedy in the van as they travel to California, and comedy in the unusual circumstances the family gets into. It's an enjoyable film that never gets boring. They're even some scenes that are pretty long compared to your average movie, but it's still entertaining because of the dialogue. An example is one of the first scenes when the family is getting ready to eat dinner. This scene is where the audience learns of all the characters and their personalities. It's a great introduction to the life of this family. It might be a long scene but you won't notice it.
The characters are memorable, the comedy, the whole movie is memorable. Your going to walk out of the theater and know you didn't waist your money. You're going to want to watch it again. You wouldn't have minded if the movie lasted a while longer just to see the lovable characters. You might even decide to buy it when it comes out on DVD. Little Miss Sunshine is a movie that will appeal to a wide audience because of the variety of the characters and relatable comedy. Trust me it'll be one your favorite movies that you've seen all year, if not your #1.