Did you watch Little Miss Sunshine?

I just had to write this.
Here is a movie that is sure to entertain almost everyone. Even a die-hard critic will find something to appreciate in it.
It’s about this troubled family of Richard, wife Sheryl, her brother Frank, Richard’s foul-mouthing, opinionated dad, the teenage son who has taken a vow of silence (Nietzsche’s influence) till he gets into the Air Force and the little girl Olive who is dying to get into a beauty contest. They all have their problems – the family sometimes looks completely dysfunctional.
And then, Olive is entered into the finals of a beauty pageant by default. The family’s finances won’t allow them to fly to the contest site 800 miles away. So they decide to drive down in a ramshackle van – a great prop. Murphy’s Law sets in, and things begin to burst at the seams. The VW van develops trouble and the family finds itself with a dead Grandpa. Yes, they do make it and Olive’s moment of glory brings them together as a family. Little Miss Sunshine (eponymous as it’s the name of the contest) turns out to be just that, bringing out the good in each one of them in her decision to go ahead and be herself on stage.
It may be a messed-up family, but you can identify with each one of the characters. There is Paul Dano as the troubled teen, Greg Kinnear (Richard) who is a positive- thinking guru, Toni Collette (Sheryl) the wife who patiently keeps things going, Alan Arkin the sarcastic Grandpa and Abigail Breslin (Olive) in her phenomenally done role as the happiest girl alive.
The best performance comes from Steve Carrell as uncle Frank. He is the top Proust scholar just recovered from a bout of depression. He stays unsmiling and dejected throughout, even when he is helping out the family. It’s extra-ordinary how he pulls off this beaten-man act even when he is delivering cutting one-liners.
The film is funny in parts. It can be dubbed as dark comedy. If you’re watching it on DVD, you’ll come across a lot of unintended humour in the closed captioning which, no doubt, was done by people not exactly known for scholarship in English. Sample this:
Little Miss Sunshine – worthless sunshine
I’ll go fetch him for dinner – I’ll go Frenchmen for dinner
seed money – sin money
Ah, well – far well
The movie has a number of continuity goof-ups. It’s fun if you’re looking out for them.
But watch LMS for its wonderful little story. The family rallying together to see the little girl through her big day. Watch it for the alternating light and dark situations. For the fine performances. And above all for Olive Hoover, who revels in the joy of the moment. She is going to be herself, it doesn’s matter what the others are. She’s going to make the best of what she’s been handed. Her happiness is contagious. Way to go!