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"This Family Is
Super Freaky!" |
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Directed by Jonathan
Dayton, Valerie Faris -
Written by Michael Arndt
Starring Greg Kinnear,
Toni Collette, Abigail
Breslin, Steve Carell,
Alan Arkin
Distributed by Fox
Searchlight -
2006 - 101mins - Rated R |
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Richard Propes'
Review
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Where's Olive? |
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I sat down last night
and had a good cry.
This "good cry" began in the first two minutes of "Little Miss
Sunshine," the debut film from music video and commercial directors
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, and was intertwined with moments of
deep, almost outrageous heartfelt laughter, authentic internal
processing and pockets of grief, rage, release and, ultimately, hope.
In a year of such great dark comedies as "The Devil Wears Prada" and
the even darker "Thank You for Smoking," "Little Miss Sunshine" comes
along and practically defines the concept of a darkly comic, yet
uniquely honest film. "Little Miss Sunshine" is a dark comedy, a
quirky comedy, a dysfunctional family's intimate diary and, on the
most basic level, a road movie that seemingly winds down both the
yellow brick road and the road to nowhere.
Richard (Greg Kinnear) brings to mind Jason Alexander's second-rate
motivational speaker "Bob," in a man who presents motivational
workshops to half-empty classrooms while waiting for his "9-Step" path
to becoming a winner to be picked up by a publisher; Sheryl (Toni
Collette), his wife, is becoming weary of holding the family together
on her own while being caretaker to Dwayne (Paul Dano), a teenage boy
who follows the spiritual philosophies of Nietzsche by taking a vow of
silence until he accomplishes his goal of becoming an Air Force Pilot,
and Olive (Abigail Breslin), a slightly pudgy, pre-teen young girl who
serves as the central focus of the film's storyline with her obsession
on all things related to beauty pageants. Thrown into the mix are
Grandpa, (Alan Arkin), who lives with the family after being thrown out
of a retirement community for snorting heroin and Sheryl's gay brother
Frank (Steve Carell), a brilliant Proust scholar who attempts suicide
following a failed relationship with one of his graduate students and
the burgeoning success of one of his fellow professors.
There are films that, when we watch them, become more than simply
movies on this really big screen. They become cornerstones on our life
journey. They make us laugh, they make us cry, they make us think,
they make us look at ourselves, our families, our friends and the
world differently. For better or worse, they somehow redefine us.
"Little Miss Sunshine" is such a film for me.
As I was sitting in the theater watching "Little Miss Sunshine," I
found myself resonating deeply with each character's challenges and
triumphs, secret vulnerabilities and deepest desires.
I understood Grandpa, a man who realizes he is on borrowed time and
who snorts heroin more out of his desire to end his life on a high,
admittedly an artificial one, rather than resigned to a meager
existence in a retirement community. Perfectly realized by the
understated, pitch-perfect performance of Alan Arkin, Grandpa is both
uncomfortably crude and yet remarkably, powerfully present. His words,
simple and sparse, are often what weave this family together in good
times and bad.
I squirmed watching Richard, a man so committed to the process of his
"9 Steps" that he has forgotten to blend it into his own life. There
is a moment late in the film when Richard looks at Olive and something
clicks...he realizes, finally, what his obsession with winning is
doing to his daughter and something internally just freezes in time.
This moment is the perfect acting moment for Greg Kinnear. His look,
his facial expression, his eyes, his body language and his words,
again sparse, are simple, utter perfection. As Richard, Kinnear is
simple, utter perfection.
As his wife, Toni Collette again reminds all of us that she is one of
the most brilliant actresses working today. Collette doesn't simply
"act," but she inhabits Sheryl. She wears Sheryl inside and out, with
a love and a passion and a devotion and a realness that made me ache
for her, feel for her and made me think about my own mother's
sacrifices and hurts and dreams. In a lifetime of brilliant
performances, Collette gives a performance here that almost defies
words.
As the Nietzsche obsessed son, Paul Dano could have easily resorted to
a goth, detached caricature. Instead, he enriches his largely silent
role with a young man of uncommon depth, commitment and sincerity. It
becomes clear that, even in the midst of silence, Dwayne hates
everyone because he fears himself and, more importantly, he fears
himself with them.
Then, there is Frank. I can't say that I identified with Frank
immensely. I am not gay. I am, most definitely, not brilliant.
But, wait...
When Frank's facade of brilliance and academia collapses under the
weight of very real human emotions, suddenly I found myself just
floored, almost emotionally numb. I remembered, vividly, my own
suicide attempt and the efforts of everyone around me to understand,
console, nurture and redefine me. I remembered, vividly, feeling both
deflated and yet, oddly, renewed. As Frank, Steve Carell offers a
remarkable, unaffected dramatic performance that serves notice that
Carell may very well be the next comic actor to broaden his own acting
horizon.
Then, there is Olive.
Often, it is painful to watch child actors. Let's be honest...they
pose, they preen, they follow direction and they are far too young to
have found their own inner voice.
First noticed in M. Night Shyamalan's "Signs," 10-year-old Abigail
Breslin offers the second great child performance of 2006 (the first
being Sarala in Deepa Mehta's "Water") as Olive, a child whose
obsession with beauty pageants seems more a desperate plea to be
special to someone. A scene with Grandpa in a motel room is both
heartbreaking in terms of its emotional honesty and powerful in the
way it will shape Olive in the very near future. Likewise, the look on Breslin's face as she looks around the pageant she has always dreamed
of winning and realizes that she is "different" than these girls is
like looking inside the soul of the young girl. Breslin's performance
is insightful, thoughtful and, in its simplicity, becomes one of the
most authentic performances by a young actor in recent years.
To reveal this film's journey would be unjust to you, the audience.
Suffice it to say that "Little Miss America," unlike the award-winning
"TransAmerica," doesn't go for histrionic humor as much as it invites
humor birthed out of the quirks, insecurities and natural growth of
its characters. In "Little Miss Sunshine," the stops along the way
will resonate more deeply because they are stops we all make along our
road trips in life.
Unlike many music video directors turned filmmakers, directors Faris
and Dayton's pacing is reminiscent of "The Royal Tenenbaums," but a
greater degree of variation that seems to serve the film's peaks and
valleys quite nicely.
The film's production design is simple, yet effective. The inviting
yellow VW Bus featured so prominently on the film's poster is utilized
perfectly throughout the film, and the film's score companions the
film's journey rather than defines it.
I sat down last night and had a good cry. In fact, I couldn't even sit
down at the computer and finish my review until this morning about
5:00 A.M. "Little Miss Sunshine" is THAT kind of film...it's the kind
of film that makes you laugh, makes you cry, makes you think and makes
you feel. It presents its characters, the Hoover family, with honesty
rather than histrionics and compassion dipped with a healthy coating
of life-weary cynicism.
Blessed with a cast who "gets it" and a script that doesn't force it,
"Little Miss Sunshine" deserves to be this season's sleeper hit. It is
one of the most refreshing, honest and magnificently realized films in
recent years.
Life can be a lot like the movies. We go to action movies to vent our
rage and frustration and pain...we go to horror movies to explore
those dark crevices in our lives...we go to comedies to laugh and, at
times, to avoid crying...we go to fantasies so that we may dream and
explore and open ourselves up...and, finally, we go to films like
"Little Miss Sunshine" to remind us that, despite everything, we're
okay just the way we are and, despite all our denials, we need each
other...desperately.
There may be better "made" films in 2006, but "Little Miss Sunshine"
is the best film of 2006. |
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© Written by Richard Propes -
Email Me! |
TC Candler's Comment
A
suicidal, gay Proustian scholar. A sex-obsessed
grandpa. A Nietzsche-following teen boy in the
midst of a vow of silence. A motivational
speaking loser/father. A chubby little girl,
desperately hoping to win beauty pageants. And a
mother, somehow holding them all together. Oh,
and a 700 mile road-trip in a push-started,
yellow VW-bus with horn and door problems.
I will concede that it is a little "too much"...
Perhaps it is a example of
try-too-hard-screenwriting 101. But I have to
admit that the film accomplishes exactly what it
sets out to do. It made me laugh at recognizable
situations. It made me care about the
characters. And it delivered a cheesy lesson
about how family should stick together in thick
and thin, and how we all have oddities and
quirks that should be cherished rather than
ridiculed.
The film is well cast. Virtually everyone
delivers good performances. Abigail Breslin, who
was brilliant in "Signs", is fantastic yet
again. She is easily the best pre-teen actress
in movies. She is the heart of this film and
without her, I would not have cared nearly as
much.
Steve Carell is pitch-perfect and both Collette
and Dano deliver heart-felt roles. Kinnear is
somewhat muted in this film... And I felt that I
had seen him do this character in other movies.
Arkin, an actor I typically love, comes across
as a little forced and over-the-top. It is not a
bad performance... merely an unsubtle one.
This film won't make my year-end Top 10 List...
It's not quite enough of any one thing to
accomplish that. "Little Miss Sunshine" is very
funny without being hilarious. It is touching
without being moving. It is intelligent without
being wise. It is observant without being deep.
However, it does everything well enough to be
considered one of the 25-30 best films of 2006
and gets a hearty recommendation from me.
Jacob Hall's
Comment
“Little
Miss Sunshine” is a remarkable movie that made
me laugh, made me cry, and entranced me for it’s
entire running time. I can only compare it to
“The Royal Tenenbaums,” another movie about a
highly dysfunctional family. In both films, the
events and occurrences that we witness on screen
should make the film the most depressing thing
we’ve ever seen, yet both instil the audience
with a sense of hope, joy and a reaffirmation of
life. I left the theatre with a huge grin on my
face that still hasn’t faded. Every cast member
is perfect…especially Steve Carell, in a
performance that I never though he’d be able to
pull off. I love his comedy, but I had my doubts
about him as a dramatic force…but he proved me
very, very wrong. Greg Kinnear and Alan Arkin
give their best performances in a while and
Abigail Breslin and Paul Dano give breakout
performances. Toni Collette is just as
understated and brilliant as always. Oh…that’s
the whole cast.
This is a wonderful movie! The cinematography is
brilliant without calling attention to itself.
The script takes moments that should have been
embarrassing and makes them into comic and
dramatic set pieces that leave you laughing and
crying. Go out of your way to see this one.
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