“Mission Impossible III.” “X-Men: The Last Stand.” “The Da Vinci Code.” “Snakes on a Plane.” Well, the last one was a joke, but all of the movies listed were big blockbusters this summer that were hyped beyond belief but didn’t necessarily deliver to audiences. “Little Miss Sunshine” was an indie movie that had little promotion but became the sleeper hit of the summer due to word of mouth.
“Little Miss Sunshine” follows the Hoover’s; a dysfunctional family that hails from New Mexico, on a road trip to a beauty pageant in California. The quirky family is not the typical family at the Little Miss Sunshine contest and neither is their car; a rundown VW bus.
Young Olive dreams of being Miss America one day but is not the ordinary contestant. She wears glasses, loves ice cream, and her grandfather is her trainer. She is accompanied by her father Richard, a struggling motivational speaker and aspiring author; her brother Dwayne, a lover of Nietzsche who has taken a vow of silence; her Grandpa, a heroin addict and avid reader of porn magazines; her uncle Frank, a Proust scholar who recently tried to commit suicide; and her mother Sheryl, who is just trying to hold the family together.
The family faces numerous obstacles before reaching the Little Miss Sunshine contest in California and then struggles to help a misfit Olive feel at home backstage at the pageant. After a surprising performance by Olive, the Hoovers come together and realize that being a bunch of oddballs is a redeeming quality and as a result of Olive’s confidence and perseverance people everywhere are inspired.
“Little Miss Sunshine” did not need a big star to carry it, as one A-list star does not necessarily ‘make’ a movie. They may not be Tom Hanks or Tom Cruise, but veterans Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Alan Arkin, and Steve Carell are all wonderfully cast as the quirky Hoovers. The standout performances in the movie are unquestionably new comer Abigail Breslin, who plays Olive, and Paul Dano, who’s character Dwayne, is a crowd favorite.
Dwayne is the most relatable character, as he is the rebellious teen who is fed up with life. The scribbles on his memo pad are some of the most memorable scenes of the movie and have even become taglines for the movie. Some include “Go hug mom” and “I hate everyone”. His expressions are priceless and audiences should expect to see more when Dano appears in “Fast Food Nation” also starring Kinnear.
“Sunshine” was the hit of the Sundance Film Festival and has been acclaimed by some as the best film of the year. The movie is the directorial debut for the husband/wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, previously known for directing music videos for REM and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. After seeing the movie for yourself, you will see why four studios fought over the rights for it.
“Little Miss Sunshine” is definitely the best movie of the summer and the year. Hopefully the Community Theatre will be showing it so that many more can enjoy this heartwarming indie.
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