A review: Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine stars Steve Carell as Uncle Frank, a Proust scholar who, plagued with depression because of a failed love affair tries to commit suicide and upon his failure to do so, must live with his sister and her family during the recovery period. The movie quickly jumps into the story in which the young girl of the family has won a spot in a child beauty pageant but it's several hundred miles away in California and the only way for her to participate is for the entire family to go in an old VW bus. The greatest part of this film is the characters. The entire family is a mess in the most terrific way. The son doesn't speak because of Friedrich Nietzsche, the grandfather does drugs, the father is pushing a pathetic 9 step program for self improvement and the marriage is faulty. This is the type of film that is morbid and serious but hilarious at the same time, similar to The Royal Tenenbaums, and is similar to the Wes Anderson style of film-making.

The movie expresses many views and messages. The most clear one being explicitly shown at the end during the pageant that they are terrible events and try to make 6 year olds sexy, but in the most deplorable manner in which the parents are living vicariously through their children. The girl who is not as attractive however unknowingly extracts revenge along with the rest of her family. The plot is not complex as it does not need to be because this film is all about the development of the characters and their bizarre relationships with each other and the world around them. The grandfather curses and is dirty, the father is overbearing and forces his 9 step plan down any throat he can get his hands around, however the son, Dwayne, played by the actor who played Klitsy in The Girl Next Door, was by far my favorite character and was possibly the most developed although he never spoke throughout the majority of the film. I'm always impressed by emotion and character depth when they don't speak or their faces aren't visible as in V For Vendetta, starring Natalie Portman who also co-stars in Garden State with Zach Braff which brings me to the point that I think this movie is the next Garden State. Garden State was more of a hit because of its popular faces and incredible soundtrack, but this movie contains a somewhat lesser but still enjoyable soundtrack.

I'd also like to note the possible importance the film-makers may have liked you to notice about the characters' clothing. Dwayne(Paul Dano) changes from only two shirts, from one with a drawing on it to another stating "Jesus Was Wrong" and back to the other. Uncle Frank(Carell) never changes from his light pants and shirt which possibly suggests redemption as he finds new happiness with this dysfunctional family. The grandpa, played by Alan Arkin, who is likely unfamiliar to most by name but you'll recognize him, almost always wears a black leather vest and his black fanny pack holding his drugs, which I can imagine represents his drug habit as always looming over him, something that he is attached to even though he wants it, and the black symbolic of the tragedy to come. I could easily be and likely am looking too deeply into their clothing but sometimes I notice things like that and I find it valid to mention. All in all it is a fantastic film in truth and I urge you all to see it. If ever I can give a 5 to a film I give it now. 5/5


Dwayne uses a pad to speak in the movie and wrote this to Carell upon ariving at their house.


Cheers,
Zarathustra