Little Miss Sunshine Review
by [email protected] (dnb AT dca DOT net)September 7th, 2006
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2006 David N. Butterworth
***1/2 (out of ****)
If the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (or AMPAS, the organization behind the Oscar(r) ceremonies) had a category for "Best Ensemble Performance in a Drama or Comedy (or Comedy/Drama)"-- unfortunately they don't--then this year's winner would have to be, without a doubt/hands down/without question, the impressive sextet that drives "Little Miss Sunshine."
This wonderfully rich and poignant film features a dysfunctional family that travels from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Redondo Beach, California in a yellow, beat-up VW bus (one that has seen infinitely better days, clutch-wise). They undertake this road trip so that the clan's energetic seven-year-old can compete in the annual Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant; the film stars Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Alan Arkin, Paul Dano, and Abigail Breslin.
Kinnear plays Richard, the anxiety-ridden patriarch, a motivational speaker who's desperately trying to land a deal for his nine-step "Refuse to Lose" program for success. Collette is his harried, culinary-impaired wife Sheryl, the glue that holds this shaky outfit together, just about, and Carell is Sheryl's unhappy brother Frank, a jilted Proust scholar whose bandaged wrists tell a much darker, more disturbing story. Also along for the ride are the dynasty's foul-mouthed, pornography-loving, heroin-snorting Grandpa (Arkin); Dano's mute teen Dwayne (who's taken a vow of silence until he realizes his dream of entering the Air Force Academy); and the little miss beauty contestant herself, the dweeby ugly duckling Olive (Breslin).
Mere descriptions of these characters, however, do them much injustice for they could so easily have been played as gonzo stereotypes, cardboard cutouts, or simply jokes. Yet via the malleable personas of this fine company Richard, Sheryl, Frank, Grandpa, Dwayne, and Olive come to hilarious--as well as heartbreaking--life. Nobody overplays his or her hand. Nobody tries to grab center stage. They all work together, brilliantly, as the close-knit if troubled family unit they're supposed to be, understanding each other's quirks and peccadilloes, respecting each other's space and distance (from time to time) and, ultimately, rallying around the familial flag when circumstances unswervingly demand it.
Michael Arndt's deft script is another key to the film's success: it goes places we haven't been before. The beauty contest sequences late in the film, for example, are inspired (and a good deal scarier than any recent Japanese horror flick). Even the supporting/minor characters are exquisitely written and unexpectedly played: an unfeeling hospital administrator; an overly gung-ho emcee; a delightful Miss California; an unsympathetic pageant administrator; a biker Dad; a shady state trooper.
Finally kudos must, without a doubt/hands down/without question, go to co-directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the music video producing (Janet Jackson, Oasis, Weezer, etc.) husband-and-wife partnership that, with "Little Miss Sunshine," are making their feature film debut. That's remarkable given the assuredness of the performances they elicit coupled with their innate comfort with the material. Clearly Dayton and Faris knew they had something special going on here and rose to the occasion.
All things considered, you'd be hard pressed to find a funnier, more touching film this year.
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David N. Butterworth
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