Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Steve Carell
Greg Kinnear
Toni Collette
Alan Arkin
Paul Dano
Abigail Breslin

Directed by Valerie Faris & Jonathan Dayton

Plot: The Hoover family treks from Albuquerque to the Little Miss Sunshine pageant in Redondo Beach, California, to fulfill the deepest wish of 7-year-old Olive, an ordinary little girl with big dreams. Along the way the family must deal with crushed dreams, heartbreaks, and a broken-down VW bus, leading up to the surreal Little Miss Sunshine competition itself. On their travels through this bizarre landscape, the Hoovers learn to trust and support each other along the path of life, no matter what the challenge.

Review: I knew nothing about this movie. The first I heard of it is when it started winning all kinds of awards. Once I realized the cast, I was instantly interested in seeing it. I love Steve Carrell and The Office, which would have been enough to make me see it, but with Alan Arkin and Greg Kinnear, I was sold.

This movie is comedy genius. I know I mentioned previously that Borat might be the funniest movie I have ever seen and I stand behind that, but this film is close behind if not equal to. It is a more traditional comedy and as far as these kinds go, probably one of the best I have seen in some time. The cast are all excellent and each bring something unique to the story. What’ s even better is that no one actor or character stands out, they need each other for this story to work. This is a story of our family, meaning it seems more like the family all of has to deal with, as opposed to the family we normally see in film. The journey they take together is moving and insane all at once. A lot of times, the ending can totally be worth the entire movie, but in this case the rest of the film is just as good. I really loved this film and highly recommend it.
 

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