I’ve seen many movies this summer. Many good movies. However, I just saw the best one of the summer.
Little Miss Sunshine
This small indie flick was absolutely terrific. It is difficult to describe. But it is a tale of rich characters, dark humor, disfunctional familes, road trips, death, pornography, childhood, dreams, loss, suicide and more. Like I said, it is very difficult to pigeon hole into an easy category. All I know is this… it is ABSOLUTELY worth seeing.
This movie earned a Rottentomatoes.com rating of 93%. One of the top reviewed movies of the year.
The cast is amazing. The story is at turns outrageously funny and quietly poignant. A very brief outline of the plot is this family traveling 800 miles so 8 year old Olive can participate in a beauty pagent. But I could spend 20 minutes describing them all. Far easier for you to just see it. The family feels very authentic. You believe that this really is a family. They fight and squabble, yet there are multiple demonstrations that the really do love each other despite it all. Even though the movie only takes place over a few days, you really feel like each character has grown and changed by their experiences.
Of course, the anchor is the Mom, played by Toni Collette. She does her best to hold this circus together despite some very interesting circumstances. She plays these events in such a way that she just rolls with it and makes the best of it. Doing whatever is necessary to keep it together, even though she knows she’s not perfect. The look she gives her husband, Greg Kinnear, at the gas station is priceless.
Steve Carrell, one of the funniest people on the planet manages to be funny despite not having a funny line in the movie. Alan Arkin as grandpa is hillarious. Greg Kinnear is one of the most versatile actors out there. Even Paul Dano as the affected teenager does a lot with a rather limited character.
The little girl, Abigail Breslin, was unbelieveable. She’s an amazing actress, that more than held her own with all these very good adult actors. The ending of the movie is priceless.
I cannot recommend this movie highly enough.
Do yourself a favor and go see it.