Movie Review: Little Miss Sunshine

Tania Says:

I LOVED this movie! I heard great things about this movie which is why again we skipped ahead on our list and gave it a spin in the old DVD player. I was not disappointed in the list and in fact it even overshot my expectations.

Little Miss Sunshine is about a very dysfunctional family who has to take a last minute road trip to California because they find out that their daughter will be in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. Ah yes, family road trips make for wacky comedy and hijinxs to ensue but this movie is more then that and has surprising heart and not in a cheesy Full House kind of way. I particularly enjoyed the ending (and I will try not to spoil it) which was filled with laugh out load moments and that non-cheesy heart I mentioned. An ending to a movie about a dysfunctional family could end up being one of two things – 1.) Not satisfying at all because no one or nothing changes or 2.) So unrealistic and saccharine filled that it ends up tainting the whole dysfunction we had grown to embrace during the film. Little Miss Sunshine does neither and instead ends with a promise that at this moment the family has made their peace with what they are and embrace themselves and one another. Will it continue to be this way in their day to day life? Probably not but at the moment we share with them – well, it really was the perfect way to wrap up the story. Wow – I ended up sounding as cheesy as an episode of Full House but trust me – the movie doesn’t and it still warms your heart!

The performances are all around really strong and I can’t imagine changing any of the actors in the film. Steve Carell is particularly good. As a huge Office fan I have a hard time separating him from the obnoxious Michael Scott but his Frank is subdued and sad and often hilarious. I thought he did a great job and I would love to see him tackle some more, even more serious dramatical work. Abigail Breslin is also pretty amazing as Olive, the Little Miss Sunshine wannabe. She is both sweet and naïve and seems to be what keeps the entire family from falling apart. The rest of the cast is also great – Greg Kinnear as the a-hole Dad and Toni Collette as the Mom just trying to keep her family afloat. Stealing the show was the VW bus that the family takes to California.

This movie is a comedy but as I mentioned above has some great dramatic themes in it as well. Dare I call it a Dramedy? Maybe I will. Either way, I loved this movie and so glad we picked it up at Best Buy where if you bought three new releases you got a $10 gift card! This movie fared better then the other two we purchased (which will not be reviewed but were All the King’s Men (JUDE LAW!) and Lady in the Water. They both get a “meh” from me. But see Little Miss Sunshine! It rules!

Josh says:
I had heard such great things about this movie, that I'd love to be writing Tania's review. I'm not though, cause I'm not quite there with it. It's not that I didn't like the movie, I did. I just didn't love it. The cast is interesting. In a way, I found it very hard to believe that these people were related, however, on an individual basis, I have a hard time seeing anybody else playing these people. I mean in terms of the individual characters:

Arkin as the grandpa, perfect, but of course, he's just playing himself.

Carell as the uncle is perfect as well. I just can't see anyone else playing this guy so perfectly, the subtle irony he brings to every character he plays is just too perfect.

That kid is perfect as the older brother, once you warm up to where he's coming from.

That little girl was perfect as that little girl, the perfect amount of cute and pathetic.

Toni Collette as the mom, perfect.

Lastly, I'm generally not a big fan of Greg Kinnear but he's such a prick in this movie that, for me, I can't see anyone else in the role.

Still, something about these people as a family unit really didn't work, save for a few rare moments toward the end.

As for the story itself, it's cute, but excluding the fact that it had me waxing nostalgic for my old VW, it just seemed like it was a bit contrived or perhaps worse yet, a new and marginally improved Vacation (yes, I'm looking at you dead grandpa in the trunk gag) minus Wally World (can anything be improved by taking away Wally World?).

It does provide an interesting social commentary on what it is that constitutes 'success' and what it is to be 'normal' without that preachy feeling so many people hate in their movies. The movie also has some fairly realistic heart wrenching moments that come off very well with no cheese whatsoever. Overall, it's one of the better movies we've watched as part of this project, but we've watched a lot of really bad movies so far..................I'd recommend it be watched, but I just wouldn't expect a movie of the year or whatever everybody's calling it.