Little Miss Sunshine

It's a big risk when you base your movie around a child. Nine times out of ten it will end in an annoying disaster. The likes of 'Home Alone' are the exception. 'Little Miss Sunshine' is a rare case of getting it oh so right. Abigail Breslin was fantastic in this movie.

Sure she has an amazing cast of adults around her. But in a way that only makes her performance even more impressive. She is not only holding court with them, she is often showing them up and stealing scenes.

There's a tremendous balance of uplifting and heavy material in this movie. It's a feel-good, but it isn't afraid to pull at the heart-strings either. Very few movies find the intricate balance between these two gears as well as this movie does.

It's taken me 16 years to finally see this movie but I'm glad I finally did. It is a treasure. 9/10.

I am still shocked that this film wasn't nominated for direction at the Oscars and that it lost best picture to the overwrought The Departed. This is film captures far more of life as lived in single scenes than most films capture in their entire runtime. It is not just the great script that has great comedic bits and utterly real characters. It's not just the pitch perfect cast. This is a great *visual* film as well because of the traveling scenes and the quirky design sense.

The direction is extremely tight. Whether it is how the opening dinner sequence delineates character and their relationships-via clothing and seating arrangements-economically or how they kept the interior of the van visually fresh the film is filled with splendid and meaningful images. I think the script and the acting are so good that people just didn't notice the visual niceties the film captures. There's even a couple of hard jokes to land-i.e. Porn in the trunk-that the directors managed to make work far better than the story beat does on the page.

I think the film's theme around the cruelty of the rat race and the insane pressure we put on ourselves because of "competition" land better in 2022. Maybe I am just getting older but Richard is a bit of an jerk who did need to learn to chill. I like that the film isn't anti-competition per se but encourages us to keep things in perspective.

I get so disgusted with Indie films about deep characters that have no real personality. Everyone says that they're real because they suffer, when really it's the audience that suffers most. Movies are not supposed to take two hours of my life and leave me feeling vacant and hopeless. I want to spend those two hours with good people who are flawed, like those in my life I love most.

That's what Little Miss Sunshine has, and much more. In the beginning, you won't be sure whether you like anyone. By the end of the movie, you'll wish they were real so you could get to know them better. Their history and their dreams about the future. Bravo, Michael Arndt, for creating something truly memorable.

Most people have commented on the brilliance of the acting in this movie. I agree with all they said. Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear and Alan Arkin are as good as we would expect them to be. Add sensitive and characterful performances from Paul Dano & Steve Carell. Spotlight the amazing Abigail Breslin as a believable little girl trying to break into the Child Glamour Business through pageants like "Little Miss Sunshine." It was when I contrasted her less than movie-star appearance with all the adult-glam of the other lacquered and made-up girls that I realized the subliminal message here.

Olive's striptease is an honest (but disturbing) expose of what these pageants really are. It's only when Olive's family join her in making this into a game that we can begin cheering for her while being horrified by the hypocrisy of the whole pageant-thing.

A brilliant movie!

A quirky original comedy that works it's way towards a genuinely brilliant finale. Strong cast, sharp humour and good pacing contribute to a modern classic.