January 27, 2007

Great Expectations

Little Miss Sunshine isn't uproariously funny, but it's one of the year's best films.

By John Miller

When watching a film, all viewers go in with expectations that affect their experience.

Little Miss Sunshine is one of the most critically acclaimed films of the past year, and once I FINALLY decided to watch it last week, I expected a lot. Steve Carell is one of my favorite comedic actors, so I anticipated a non-stop laugh fest. Additionally, the multiple Golden Globe and Oscar nominations set the bar even higher.

Were my expectations met? I didn’t laugh nearly as much as I thought I would, but in this case, that wasn’t a bad thing. Plus, the movie’s accolades are well deserved.

The film opens with, among other things, Sheryl (Toni Collette) tending to her rather melancholy brother, Frank (Carell), who recently attempted suicide. I was ready to laugh as soon as Carell appeared, but I quickly realized Frank wasn’t your typical Carell character. On NBC’s The Office, Carell’s character is almost always over-the-top, whether he’s enthusiastic, annoyed, focused, insensitive, or all of the above. In the first part of Little Miss Sunshine, Frank is inconsolable, and Carell conveys his deep depression with subtle perfection. Later, Frank has his humorous moments, but it’s not The Office or The Daily Show-type humor Carell’s fans are accustomed to.

Although Carell was tremendous, the rest of the cast was equally vital. The film features a seemingly hopeless family that’s forced into a long road trip together after young Olive (Abigail Breslin) is vaulted into the Little Miss Sunshine pageant by default. Olive’s mom, Sheryl (Toni Collette), is determined to get to California despite any financial difficulties. The rest of the family isn’t as keen, but eventually, they’re equally steadfast once they’re on the road.

Richard (Greg Kinnear) is Olive’s dad, and he incessantly touts his motivational, nine-step plan to becoming a winner. Like the other characters though, Richard faces the harsh reality of failure. Kinnear makes his character incredibly irritating, but ultimately, he’s also sympathetic because he genuinely wants what’s best for his daughter.

Alan Arkin, whom the Academy nominated for Best Supporting Actor, plays Richard’s drug-using, foul-mouthed, porn-loving father. When Grandpa gives teenaged Dwayne (Paul Dano) love advice, he’s vulgar, tactless, and unrelenting. On the flip side, his scenes with Olive are almost sugary sweet, but there’s no transformation; he still seems like the same guy.

Dwayne doesn’t speak for the first half of the film, but Dano, like Carell, conveys great emotion with facial expressions and blank stares. His breakdown later in the film is so convincing that it’s impossible not to feel bad for him.

Often, I find child actors with major roles pretentious and annoying. However, Breslin is beyond charismatic as Olive, and her performance is the most critical of all. There’s considerable conflict amongst the family, but their love for Olive and common goal of getting her to the pageant is what brings them together. If she wasn’t as genuinely lovable, the film wouldn’t work nearly as well.

As I mentioned earlier, the film wasn’t as funny as I anticipated, but it was much more touching than I could have imagined. Basically, the road trip is an allegory for life. All the characters, other than Olive, are having difficulties of some sort. Along those lines, several obstacles are thrown their way on the road trip, but they never give up. The journey is so harrowing that Olive’s performance in the pageant is satisfying, hilarious, and poignant.

As Grandpa says, “A real loser is someone who's so afraid of not winning he doesn't even try.” In the end, that’s Little Miss Sunshine’s message, and the message is executed flawlessly. Anyone expecting a 40-Year-Old Virgin-like comedy might be disappointed, but taken as a dark comedy with an optimistic message, Little Miss Sunshine succeeds on every level.