Little Miss Sunshine

Rating: 5/5

A movie that holds nothing back, Little Miss Sunshine is daring, humorous, and touching.

The Hoover family is not like many others. The father, Richard (Greg Kinnear) is in the process of trying to make it big as a motivational speaker, and uses his patented "Nine Steps" to influence his parenting. Richard's father Edwin (Alan Arkin) lives with the Hoovers due to the fact that he was kicked out of his retirement home for selling heroine. The mother, Sheryl (Toni Collette), is just trying to keep her family glued together, but learns that her brother Frank (Steve Carrell) has tried to commit suicide and cannot be left alone, so he has to move in as well. Frank must sleep in the same room as Richard and Sheryl's son Dwayne, (Paul Dano) who has taken a vow of silence until he can get into flight school. The only seemingly "normal" person in the family, is seven year old Olive (Abigail Breslin). Olive is kind to everyone, and though she may not fit the typical "look", she wants nothing more than to compete in beauty pageants.

When Olive learns that she has become runner up in a local pageant and is now qualified to go to the Little Miss Sunshine pageant in California, the whole family goes along for the trip. Given the collection of unusual characters that make up the Hoover family, the trip is destined to be a doozy.

Little Miss Sunshine was the first time I had every seen an indie comedy-drama, and it was a wonderful introduction into the genre. I had never experienced a film that could make me laugh, but could also pack an incredibly strong emotional punch. It is thanks namely to the cast and writers that this movie made such a large impact on me.

Though the Hoover family is incredibly dysfunctional, they all agree on one thing, and that is they want the best for Olive. Part of what makes Little Miss Sunshine so wonderful, is the scenes in which the family is protecting Olive or just trying to make her happy. Those scenes break the palpable family tension that is present throughout the movie, and also adds an instantly heartwarming element to the film.

Whenever I watch movies where one of the main characters is a child, and their performance is truly remarkable, I always wonder how someone so young is able to bring such a sense of realism to their character, and Abigail Breslin's portrayal of Olive is definitely one of those times. Though she did not win the Academy Award that she was nominated for, it still makes me incredibly happy that she was recognized for her work, because her acting in this film is simple, yet powerful. The rest of the cast give equally impressive performances, and together they create the unique and troubled Hoover family that shows their love in the most peculiar ways.

Of course I know that Little Miss Sunshine wasn't the first film of its' kind, but to me it appeared to be the catalyst for similarly styled movies to follow suit. The other films that I have seen that seem to bear a resemblance are not bad movies whatsoever, but they still can't match the ingenuity and boldness that make Little Miss Sunshine such a memorable film.

Academy Award Winner:

2007 Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Alan Arkin

2007 Best Writing, Original Screenplay- Michael Arndt