Little Miss Sunshine

Last night, my wife and I watched Little Miss Sunshine. Amazing movie. It has received quite a bit of critical acclaim recently and I think I would tend to agree with the critics. If your family is dysfunctional (aren't they all?) this movie is for you as you will relate with the dysfunction on steroids that is depicted in this poor family.

This movie would be deemed a "dark comedy" and after watching it I think that term definitely applies. "An extremely funny take on some pretty heavy subject matter", is how I would describe it. Artistically it is amazing as all the actors are rather genius in their roles. I especially loved seeing Steve Carroll play someone other than my favorite character on TV, Michael Scott from The Office.



The little girl who plays Olive was probably the most perfect selection that any casting director has ever made for any movie ever made. You have to watch the movie to see what I mean. The little girl is amazing.

Here is a plot synopsis from Rotten Tomatoes.com:

"Little Miss Sunshine" is an American family road comedy that shatters the mold. Brazenly satirical and yet deeply human, the film introduces audiences to one of the most endearingly fractured families in recent cinema history: the Hoovers, whose trip to a pre-pubescent beauty pageant results not only in comic mayhem but in death, transformation and a moving look at the surprising rewards of being losers in a winning-crazed culture. A runaway hit at the Sundance Film Festival, where it played to standing ovations, the film strikes a nerve with everyone who's ever been awestruck by how their muddled families seem to make it after all.

No one among the Hoovers quite has it together, but it's not for lack of trying. Father Richard (GREG KINNEAR), a hopelessly optimistic motivational speaker, is desperately attempting to sell his 9-step program for success -- without much success. Meanwhile, the Hoovers' "pro-honesty" mother Sheryl (TONI COLLETTE) is constantly harried by her family's eccentric secrets, especially those of her brother (STEVE CARELL), a suicidal Proust scholar fresh out of the hospital after being jilted by his gay lover. Then there are the younger Hoovers with their unlikely dreams -- the four-eyed, slightly plump, seven year-old would-be beauty queen Olive (ABIGAIL BRESLIN) and Dwayne (PAUL DANO), an anger-fueled, Nietzsche-reading teen who has taken a staunch vow of silence until he gets into the Air Force Academy. Topping off the family is the grandfather (ALAN ARKIN), a foul-mouthed pleasure-seeker recently kicked out of his retirement home for snorting heroin.

They might not be the picture of perfect mental health, but when a fluke gets Olive invited to compete in the fiercely competitive "Little Miss Sunshine" competition in California, the whole Hoover family rallies behind her. They pile into their rusted-out VW bus and head West on a three-day tragicomic journey filled with madcap surprises and leading up to Olive's big debut -- which will change the entire misfit family in ways they could never imagine.