Little Miss Sunshine – Review

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Image courtesy of www.impawards.com

Director :

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

Cast :

Abigail Breslin……….Olive
Greg Kinnear……….Richard
Paul Dano……….Dwayne
Alan Arkin……….Grandpa
Toni Collette……….Sheryl
Steve Carell……….Frank
Bryan Cranston……….Stan Grossman

The problem with most comedies is that they use the bulk of their jokes in the first and second acts, leaving the grand finale a bit lackluster. A great comedy, those few and far between films that are laugh out loud hilarious from start finish, leaves the best material for last. And in the case of Little Miss Sunshine the film’s last 20 minutes represent the culmination of what might be the funniest comedy of the year.

Little Miss Sunshine follows a family falling apart while they travel across the Southwest to get Olive (Abigail Breslin), their youngest, to the Little Miss Sunshine Beauty Pageant. The family is in a state of flux for many reasons but the key seems to be the attempted career change by father Richard (Greg Kinnear), who wants to become a motivational speaker. His wife Sheryl (Toni Collette) tries to keep the family together in some semblance, but things have conspired against her. Dwayne (Paul Dano), her other child, has taken a vow of silence until he can get into flight school. Her brother Frank (Steve Carell), a top scholar on Proust, is coming off career suicide as well fresh off a botched suicide attempt. Couple this with her father in law (Alan Arkin) is now staying with them after being kicked out of a retirement home for recreational drug use. Needless to say the family is on the downside of the roller coaster of life when Olive is informed about her sudden placement in the contest. The family opts to road trip out as circumstances dictate that they all head to California in a VW Bus.

The film itself is rather interesting because the vast majority of it takes place within the confines of the vehicle. It makes for a very interesting dimension to the film as there aren’t many different varieties of shots co-directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris can use. While the camera work can be a little repetitive due to the confined nature of the car for the bulk of the film and the cinematography is rather bland for the most part when outside of it, but it’s not something that is noticeable for large portions of time. The key is that the former music video directors have two things going for them: a great cast and a terrific script.

While the bulk of the cast are not top level stars, as only Carell can really be considered to be a top star in Hollywood, they mesh so well that a top level cast might not be this good together. They feed off one another during many scenes; Kinnear is zealously over the top in self-promotion and in one scene he and Carell have a dueling of wits that is hilarious on its face as well as revealing about both characters. This is a family in disarray and their interactions with each other, including Grandpa’s assertions about using drugs as well as his out loud ponderings of sex to Frank and Dwayne are terrifically funny especially with Carell and Dano’s response to them. Dano in particular has a tough task as he has to communicate with body expressions and writing on a notepad for the bulk of the film, as not speaking is a limit on how much he can express, but the other actors around him are strong enough speaking that his gesticulations are strong.

The film’s other strength is that it’s wonderfully written. The plot is slow but builds slowly as we are given introductions to these quirky characters but the shading and depth they are given is slowly introduced. Richard at first is not a nice character, nor is he one that is warm and fuzzy art any point, but we understand why he does the things he does and says the things he says as the film wears on. Certain events occur that shed light on his motivations, et al, and they definitely alter the way his character is viewed. It’s the same with the rest of the cast as well, as this isn’t a film where we learn about the characters up front and then see them act; the characters and their interactions are developed throughout the film in response to certain stimuli and it helps the film as it goes on. While it starts out a little slow to certain detriment, it builds up both dramatically and comically to an outstanding grand finale at the pageant itself.

InsidePulse’s Ratings for Little Miss Sunshine
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
STORY

8.5
ACTING

9.5
ORIGINALITY

8.0
LOOK/FEEL

7.5
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE

10
OVERALL
9.0