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Willis
Little Miss Sunshine
USA, 2006
[Jonathan Dayton , Valerie Faris]
Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin
Drama / Comedy
2nd January 2006
While �out-of-left-field Indie surprise hit� has been bandied about of late, only the most na�ve of people could consider a film starring Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear and new man of the moment Steve Carell as a bolt from the blue. Instead Little Miss Sunshine is a perfect example of a cleverly constructed grassroots campaign, showing in a few select theatres and then expanding as the market required. An opening on 2,000 screens would have killed it stone dead, no matter how great it is (and it is close to greatness). Its success therefore is a good reminder that film reviewers still hold importance, and that their word, allied with the conscious desire to hold back on letting a film sink or swim with the big boys, is something that will always work to sell worthy films.

And it�s a good thing that
Little Miss Sunshine is good, damn good in fact. The mildly crazy road-trip of a mildly dysfunctional family, laid out for all to see. Yes someone dies, yes there is a deliberately mute son, yes the VW camper van they drive is even more hopeless than they are, but you never get the feeling that you�re watching a film which strays too far from reality. Indeed, the key to the film is the believability of the characters and the events which happen. This is what happens when you amass a cast of such prodigious talent and let them sink into their roles as Mr or Mrs John Q. Normal.

The biggest delight is Abigail Breslin, the ten year old raison Raison D'�tre for the film. It is her character Olive, the surprisingly well-adjusted youngest child of Richard and Sheryl (Kinnear and Collette), who wins a small-town beauty contest and is entered into the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. Of course this throws the rest of the family into a turmoil; dad Richard is patiently awaiting a book deal for his 9-step program to success, Uncle Frank (Carell) is recovering from a failed suicide attempt and Grandpa (Alan Arkin), while desperate to come along, is also secretly a drug addict. Yet all six pile into the families broken-down VW and drive to LA, with the delighted and self-aware Olive keeping them all on the straight and narrow.

All the actors are superb, fleshing out the ensemble piece with characters of great depth. Richard is the win-at-all-costs loser whose philosophy clashes with just about everyone, Sheryl is his end-of-her-tether wife who worries about everyone, especially her brother Frank, a man who has recently flushed his life down the toilet and whose lack of hope is the polar opposite of Richard. Dwayne (Dano) is the non-speaking emo whose only goal is to join the Air Force and fly jets, his unsociable nature seen as worthy and brave by his wrong-headed father. Grandpa merely wishes to live the last of his days being as happy and carefree as possible, and takes great delight in secretly coaching young Olive to win the pageant. None are completely reprehensible, yet none, bar Olive, are particularly likeable either. It is this wonderful dynamic which drives
Little Miss Sunshine.

Of course even great characters do not a movie make, and the film�s subtle critique of kiddie beauty contests, their self-importance and the damage done to children�s fragile psyche�s, fills the final third. Olive, adorable though she is, realises that she is no match for the fake monstrosities she is up against and frets about her tummy, something no normal ten-year old should do. The group quickly cottons on to this, and in banding together finally become the family they have threatened to dissolve. The great thing though is that you know, as soon as the curtain falls, that they all have to get back to their crummy lives and live them just like the rest of us.
Little Miss Sunshine is a snapshot of one happy time, but it is not a guidebook to a better life. It is this that makes it so darn good.
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