I don't think there's a more touching moment in Little Miss Sunshine than the moment captured above. In a film filled with many small, wonderful moments, some happy, some sad, some warm, and some appallingly cold--but funny, nonetheless--this strange little film is wonderful.
The story of an incredibly dysfunctional family, LMS features Greg Kinnear as the dad who is trying desperately to sell his 9-step self-help program to a publisher, Toni Collette as the mom trying to hold this wildly careening unit together, Paul Dano as the brother who has taken a vow of silence until he can join the Air Force, Alan Arkin as the heroin-snorting, porn-loving grandpa, Steve Carell as Collette's suicide-prone, gay, Proust-scholar brother, and the find of the year, little Abigail Breslin as Olive, the young daughter who only wants to win the title of Little Miss Sunshine.
The family takes off on the roadtrip to hell when Olive becomes the local Little Miss Sunshine after the original winner defaults her crown (we're not sure if Donald Trump had anything to do with this decision). They take off to make it to Redondo Beach and the state LMS finals, but along the way, this family has to survive one meltdown after another. To tell you any more would be to give too much away.
LMS is about that thing that bothers us most, family. We can't live with 'em, and we can't live without 'em, but in the end, the family at the heart of this film becomes even stronger because of Olive's strength and resolve. The movie is sad, funny and touching, in almost equal measure, and the cast is amazing. I was especially impressed with Steve Carell's controlled, thoughtful performance of a man whose entire life has fallen apart. Carell ends the image I have of comedic actors--like Robin Williams, Bill Murray and Will Ferrell--who shouldn't be allowed to play serious. But Kinnear is great, too as is the entire cast. (Who knew Kinnear had this all of ahead of him when he was hosting Talk Soup on E!?)
I'd stop short of recommending Little Miss Sunshine as the perfect feel-good holiday season family flick. It's not for mixed company, even if it does mirror the dynamics of family life in America, disjointed, discomforting and disabling, at times. I don't think it's something you want to sit down to after a nice, big Christmas dinner, with mom, dad, grandpa and grandma, Uncle Bob and Aunt Fern and all the little Ferns. But it's a quiet, little gem, something to watch and savor with a select audience--or alone--and thank your lucky stars that your family can't possibly be that screwed up--can they?--and maybe envy how close they really are.
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