Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

 Little Miss Sunshine

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Ferris

USA

Dysfunctional families; a plot that has been done countless times throughout the history of film. Rob Reiner’s 1989 classic, Parenthood, and Wes Anderson’s 2001 film, The Royal Tenenbaums, immediately come to mind. Each one of these films carried stellar ensemble casts, each worn down by daily struggles and family bitterness only to later realize they need the love and support of those around them to survive. Written by Michael Arndt and directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valeria Faris, Little Miss Sunshine takes us on such a journey with such a family; the Hoovers. The youngest member of the family, Olive (played wonderfully by soon-to-be star Abigail Breslin) discovers she has been invited to participate in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant in Huntington Beach, California. Much to the dismay of the family, they all pile into their rusty VW bus to take to the road to support the young girl, not knowing they may yet discover something about themselves along the way.

As the film opens, we are quickly introduced to all members of the Hoover family. Richard (Greg Kinear), the father, is desperately trying to sell his failed motivational success program in order to support his family. The mother, Sheryl (Toni Collette), is seen frantically smoking a cigarette, trying to ease her nerves as she drives to pick up her brother Frank (Steve Carell), who has been hospitalized for attempting to take his own life. Dwayne (Paul Dano) is Sheryl's son from a previous relationship, who spends most of his teenage life reading Nietzsche and figuring out a way to get to spend the rest of his life without his family. Richard’s shit-talking father (Academy Award winner Alan Arkin) rounds out the dysfunctional crew by making sure everyone knows, well, just how dysfunctional they really are.

As the family stumbles along their journey to California, they are met with endless challenges, opening up deep wounds and divisions within the family unit. Richard’s desperate book deal for his motivational success program falls through when he discovers no publishing company is willing to take a chance on his idea. It becomes very clear that he has been counting on this deal to come through in order to support his family for some time. Dwayne, taking a vow of silence till the day he is accepted into the Air Force Academy, discovers he is color blind while playing a simple card game with his younger sister leaving him to break his vow in order to scream out his frustrations. We learn that Frank, the world's top ranked Proust scholar, attempted to take his own life after discovering the man he loved had fallen for his worst enemy; the world's second ranked Proust scholar. Richard, the heroin-snorting grandfather who was kicked out of his nursing home for using drugs, dies unexpectedly after one too many hits. To make matters even worse, the clutch in the VW bus burns out, leaving a team effort to push start the car as the only option.

However, it is Breslin’s charming innocence that grounds the film, and keeps the family from completely falling apart. It is at this point in the film, that all the hardships that befall the Hoover family begin to feel a little over the top. However, the multiple setbacks only allow the family unit to grow stronger, as it quickly becomes evident they must work together to get Olive to California.

Once they arrive in California, the Hoovers enter a material world full of children dressed up like Barbie dolls, and parents vicariously living out their sick fantasies through their kids. This is clearly a world the Hoovers and Olive do not belong to. Anticipating the embarrassment that we befall Olive, a pudgy glasses-wearing little girl, Richard and Dwayne plead with Sheryl to pull her from the contest. With little debate, it becomes clear to the family that Olive must go on stage, because that is what she wants. Once Olive takes the stage, the film takes an unexpected turn, allowing the family to rise above their selfish ways and come together in support of Olive.

Dayton and Faris paint a wonderful picture of the growth of the family spirit through the age-old story of people leaning on one another to get through tough times. Even though this is a story that many of us have seen before, and the themes and events of the film feel slightly contrived at times; it somehow seems fresh in the hands of young actors Abigail Breslin and Paul Dano, as well as savvy veterans Steven Carell and Alan Arkin. The cast assembled in Little Miss Sunshine drives the film, because without it we would not buy into the lingering family angst. From the very start of the film, it feels like we are thrust into a family feud, and the tension is high. However, the anxiety is built with each setback along the road, and we are ultimately rewarded with a joyous celebration of familial love. 

Rating: 7/10

-Joshua Albrent

Next time:  A review of Best Picture-nominated World War II Drama, Letters from Iwo Jima.