8.22.2006

Little Miss Sunshine review


In addition to Ricky Bobby, I was fortunate enough to have time to take in Little Miss Sunshine over the weekend. If you haven't read much about the film, let me say now that it doesn't have much to do with beauty pageants.

The title refers to the pageant that Olive, the youngest of the Hoover family, is granted entry to by way of a technicality. The family, one of the more dysfunctional and realistic ones you'll ever see on screen, puts all other crises on hold and packs up the VW Bus and leaves for California.

The opening scene where we meet all of the characters involved is almost real time and lasts close to twenty minutes; it shows the family coming together to eat dinner (something most dysfunctional families rarely do). That may sound boring but it flies right by and we learn all we need to know about each character and we crave more as the scene ends. Worthy of note, all six Hoovers are present in almost every scene, making frame composition a challenge. The rest of the movie is the family trying to stand each other in the small quarters of the bus as they race to get the pageant in time. There are many obstacles.

Standout performances include Alan Arkin as the unabashed grandfather and Steve Carell as the tormented Uncle. Like recent films such as the Squid and the Whale and the Royal Tennenbaums, Sunshine is drenched in the humor and tragedy that all families experience. This one is by far the sweeter of the three, but just as well conceived.

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