Little Miss Sunshine

The road trip is a fantastic movie genre. There is nothing better than piling odd ball characters into a confined space (such as a VW camper van), and then following them through their journey like a fly on the wall. "Little Miss Sunshine", is one such movie. At its core it is about family, the ups and downs they face; and ultimately how they overcome them to get to their objective. The film has a number of heart warming scenes that really grab you. However what makes "Little Miss Sunshine" stand out from your typical "family overcomes overwhelming obstacles", is the superb acting, the odd ball characters, and the obstacles themselves that need to be overcome.

The title of the film refers to a beauty pageant for children (I say children, it's really for little girls). And one family's attempt to get to the pageant on time. Before you switch off, no it's made by some neo-conservative American moral group!. What we have is a family that in some ways is completely normal, and in other aspects as far from normal as you can get!

There is "Frank", played superbly by Steve Carell (from Bruce Almighty and 40 Year Old Virgin). "Frank" is a victim of attempted suicide, an emotionally fragile character who is recovering from having his love rejected in favour of his rival (who is also his academic nemesis). We have "Granpa", wonderfully portrayed by Alan Arkin (who for me had his best role in Glengarry Glen Ross. You will not meet a more unconventional elderly gentleman than this guy! Greg Kinnear plays "Richard", a personality help guru who is desperately seeking to secure a book deal. The last three members of this oddball family are "Sheryl" played by Toni Collette (who was mighty impressive) and "Dwayne", played by Paul Dano. Finally for me the best performance of the film came from Abigail Breslin who played "Olive".

Enjoy the trailer...