Review of Little Miss Sunshine (2006) by Paul B — 12 Jun 2013

I really don't know why it took me so long to watch this gem. I just adore this film for so many reasons, but first and foremost being the fact that this film features one of the most real families I have seen in film, while still maintaining certain defined characters.

I was so moved by how realistic this family plays off of each other and how caring they are about each other regardless of the events that take course in the family. Besides this, the film is of course, really funny in many scenes, thanks to many of the performances (everyone will find a favorite, but I in particular love Alan Arkin who deservedly won an Oscar for his performance here).

The characters are not only real, but relate-able, and just about everybody can find a character they can identify themselves with. The situations are funny, the drama is very genuine, and the mechanics of the family are near flawless, if not entirely so.

As I said, the performances are very strong, I in particular loved Arkin, Paul Dano, and Steve Carell, but all of them do a tremendous job with their respective roles.The soundtrack helps with the mood in many ways, and helps to set what scenes convey which emotion.

Now the film also does a great job both bringing everything together, as well as tying everything from throughout the film into the plot in some way, which I always love. It may not overtly resolve all of the issues by the film's end, but you feel as if it emotionally pays off by the end, and you feel that while not overt, all of the issues seem to be resolved, in some cases more obvious then others.

As for how the shots are composed, I think it's fine, some standout shots here and there. Really though, the reason I love this film so much is the family dynamic, and how well written the film is, and just how it uses everything to compose an altogether brilliant family drama that I can do nothing less than love because it is just such an amazingly fun, dramatic film that knows how to balance everything that it wants to out in a great way.

I don't want to spoil it if you haven't seen it yet, but if you haven't, I say you should definitely give it a watch, it's just one Hell of a fantastic film.