neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Little Miss Sunshine
	Jonathan Dayton And Valerie Faris Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Abigail Breslin, Paul Dano 2006		The bizarre trappings and barely restrained hysteria of a children's beauty pageant provide the crescendo to "Little Miss Sunshine," but getting there is most of the fun in this totally delightful, sweet-but-not-saccharine comedy with a forlorn undercurrent. Stuffed into a rickety VW bus, the endearingly nutty Hoover clan — led by motivational speaker Richard (Greg Kinnear) and his harried wife Sheryl (Toni Collette) — is on the road from New Mexico to the Little Miss Sunshine pageant in Redondo Beach, California. Precocious, adorable 7-year old daughter Olive (Abigail Breslin), with a hopeful air and a little round belly, is determined to win the contest, and Mom and Dad can do no less than help their girl realize her dream. Oldest child Dwayne (Paul Dano) vexes his parents with his refusal to speak; crotchety Grandpa (Alan Arkin), prone to dubious excesses, insists on imparting his like-it-or-not wisdom; Sheryl's suicidal brother Frank (Steve Carell), a gay Proust scholar who was rejected by the love of his life and subsequently lost his teaching job, is an accident waiting to happen. So is the bus they're driving. But the Hoovers won't let their individual problems sway them from their goal: getting Olive to the pageant. Screenwriter Michael Arndt sprinkles his bright, witty script with tart bits and melancholy; directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris strike the right balance between goofy and heartfelt. Deftly acted by the entire cast, painfully funny, and ruefully honest, "Little Miss Sunshine" is a winner. It deserves the sash, the crown, and most of all, an adoring public.


	Wednesday, December 18, 2024





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