Last night we watched on DVD this year's Little Movie That Could: Little Miss Sunshine. We liked it. It's a good film. The best film of the year? Not so sure.It's a road film about a dysfunctional New Mexico family on a mission to get their daughter Olive (Abigail Breslin) to the Little Miss Sunshine pageant in California. It was snapped up by Fox Searchlight out of last year's Sundance Film Festival (although it did not win the top prizes there -- those went to Quinceanera). Despite their problems, they're a likeable bunch, even the cranky, heroin-snorting grandpa ("I'm old! It doesn't matter!") played by Alan Arkin. You find yourself rooting for them throughout the film.
It's an excellent cast, but there's not a whole lot of depth here, neither in the story nor in the characters. Alan Arkin is a fine actor, but the character really requires just one note from him. Abigail Breslin is a good child actor, but not great. Mostly she's got a great smile, and her role is such that she isn't required to show a range of emotion. The best acting in the film is in the meatiest roles: Steve Carell as suicidal uncle Frank and Paul Dano as sullen brother Dwayne.
Don't mistake me: See Little Miss Sunshine if you haven't already. It's good. But an Academy Award winner? Not so much.
2 comments:
I loved this movie, and think that its chances for an Oscar have something to do with our national mood. The nation NEEDS little miss sunshine. Back in the last century, a friend of mine was upset when Shakespeare in Love beat out Saving Private Ryan. He made all of the arguments about powerful narrative, historic sweep, etc., but there, too, I thought the comedy deserved the award. Movies are entertainment. It's supposed to be fun. And good comedy is tough, tough, tough to write. Little Miss Sunshine is so well written it could make Dick Cheney laugh. What kind of world would we live in if that happened more often?
I totally agree with all the negative parts of your review. Out of the five films up for Best Picture, it's the one I liked the least. It has a few redeeming qualities, but overall, I was really disappointed in it, considering the positive buzz it's gotten.
Speaking of Abigail Breslin, I don't understand how she can get nominated but Ivana Baquero from Pan's Labyrinth and Keke Palmer from Akeelah and the Bee can get overlooked. If child actors can get nominted too, I'd say Baquero and Palmer's performances were much better.
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