Review of Little Miss Sunshine (2006) by Mohamed A — 26 Nov 2012

When Little Miss Sunshine gets funny, it's hilarious â" we're talking pitch-black dark and very quirky comedy, but it works admirably, reaching sort of a peak in the infamous, hilarious and totally wacky traffic cop scene.The acting is. Simply put, amazing. You won't see any Oscar moments here, no characters that have some particular traits that require various forms of "method acting" to perform. This is simply actors playing a bunch of people who they are clearly quite unlike, but playing them as if they are. The shining star is young Abigail Breslin, who out-acts pretty much all of her older cast-mates. How she can embody a completely other character at such a young age is completely beyond me â" and she's been doing it since age 6! Dakota Fanning, watch out! Paul Dano, the other young actor, also delivers an amazing performance. Myself being fresh out of that period of my life, I can say that his portrayal of a frustrated teenager â" specifically in the scene where he just explodes (those who have seen the movie will know what I'm talking about) is just so true and realistic. Arkin is brilliant as the old grandfather, who is at once quite annoying and vulgar and at once the most human of all the characters. The three adult leads also deliver wonderful, nuanced performances â" Toni Colette, who has quite a streak of wonderful performances in various films, particularly impressed meBut what makes the film so special is its message â" and even more so, how it delivers it. Basically, the film's message can be summed up in one brilliant line delivered by Arkin's character, Grandpa Edwin: "A real loser is someone who's so afraid of not winning he doesn't even try." This is a family who see tragedy after failure after disappointment, and it's just so, so sad to see them so down, because we love them all and we know that they don't deserve it, despite all their flaws. Seriously, this movie is absolutely brutal to its characters. But ultimately, it's absolutely inspiring. Because despite disappointment after tragedy after blow to the stomach, this family just keeps their head up and say "so what; we'll find another way". Their determination and devotion despite all the obstacles in their way, and their ultimate removal from their anxieties and un-winding is simply and absolutely inspirational, and extremely heartwarming.

The flaw of many independent films that carry a message is that they insist upon themselves. Sometimes it works admirably â" a recent example I can recall is The Fountain; it's undeniably pretentious, but by fulfilling its own expectations it works as a message film. Little Miss Sunshine delivers its message in simply the most incredibly, charmingly sweet, pure, honest, and innocent way you could ever imagine. It's just so⦠pure. And that's really the single most engaging.