Little Miss Sunshine
I’m sure you can think of countless names of TV shows and movies that have a dysfunctional family as the central characters. Little Miss Sunshine is a heaping bowl of dysfunction sprinkled with great actors and an amazing script. The story hits the funny bone but tugs at the heartstrings as well. This movie was the ultimate underdog success story, to say the least. It was a little movie that very few people knew about with little known actors and it wound up making a killing at the box office and even taking home Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Alan Arkin.
The story centers on a family who takes a road trip in a VW bus to give their precocious little daughter the chance to compete in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. The family is rounded out by mom Sheryl (the domineering matriarch who keeps the family together), dad Richard (the passive underachiever who basically lets his wife take the reins), daughter Olive (a very determined and spunky girl who seems wise beyond her years), son Dwayne (a typical passive-aggressive teenager struggling with fitting in) and the grandfather (the sarcastic, quick-witted comic relief). The cast also includes the gay brother, Uncle Frank, who’s struggling with depression, a botched suicide attempt and a broken heart. This gang of misfits confine themselves to this rickety, yellow bus and spend their time arguing and getting themselves out of the most hilarious and unbelievable situations you could imagine, all the while trying to make it in time for the pageant.
I saw the movie because of sheer curiosity but I didn’t expect much out of it. It truly surprised me. I just enjoyed the way the story progressed and how each character went through a major change by the end of the film. I appreciated the simple nature of the movie – no complex story line, no gratuitous violence or sex, no big box office stars to sell the movie. The most notable face was Steve Carrell but when he did this movie, he was relatively unknown. If anyone has heard the buzz about the movie, the final scene is priceless. I can’t reveal anymore than that but just to see these 30 minutes of the film is completely worth it. And all I’ll sign off with is you will never see a faulty car horn and the song Superfreak quite the same way again.
It’s worth it to rent this little gem of a movie.
View the trailer:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449059/trailers-screenplay-E30806-10-2
Official Site: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/littlemisssunshine/
I’m sure you can think of countless names of TV shows and movies that have a dysfunctional family as the central characters. Little Miss Sunshine is a heaping bowl of dysfunction sprinkled with great actors and an amazing script. The story hits the funny bone but tugs at the heartstrings as well. This movie was the ultimate underdog success story, to say the least. It was a little movie that very few people knew about with little known actors and it wound up making a killing at the box office and even taking home Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Alan Arkin.
The story centers on a family who takes a road trip in a VW bus to give their precocious little daughter the chance to compete in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. The family is rounded out by mom Sheryl (the domineering matriarch who keeps the family together), dad Richard (the passive underachiever who basically lets his wife take the reins), daughter Olive (a very determined and spunky girl who seems wise beyond her years), son Dwayne (a typical passive-aggressive teenager struggling with fitting in) and the grandfather (the sarcastic, quick-witted comic relief). The cast also includes the gay brother, Uncle Frank, who’s struggling with depression, a botched suicide attempt and a broken heart. This gang of misfits confine themselves to this rickety, yellow bus and spend their time arguing and getting themselves out of the most hilarious and unbelievable situations you could imagine, all the while trying to make it in time for the pageant.
I saw the movie because of sheer curiosity but I didn’t expect much out of it. It truly surprised me. I just enjoyed the way the story progressed and how each character went through a major change by the end of the film. I appreciated the simple nature of the movie – no complex story line, no gratuitous violence or sex, no big box office stars to sell the movie. The most notable face was Steve Carrell but when he did this movie, he was relatively unknown. If anyone has heard the buzz about the movie, the final scene is priceless. I can’t reveal anymore than that but just to see these 30 minutes of the film is completely worth it. And all I’ll sign off with is you will never see a faulty car horn and the song Superfreak quite the same way again.
It’s worth it to rent this little gem of a movie.
View the trailer:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449059/trailers-screenplay-E30806-10-2
Official Site: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/littlemisssunshine/
Source: Internet Movie Database, Fox Searchlight Films
2 comments:
yes... I thought this movie was super cute. I think the little girl (abigail/olive) is so adorable, and played that part so well. I wasn't sure what the whole movie was going to entail, and I too, wasn't expecting much, and it was cute, but sad and pretty enjoyable, but ended kinda abruptly.. overall.. I'd recommend it too.
I completely agree with you. It did kind of end abruptly, very unfinished. I guess that was the point, maybe. To just leave you wondering what would become of the family. But, that little girl has got true talent and charisma!
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