When a pudgy, bespectacled seven-year-old, Olive voices her desire to take home the coveted Little Miss Sunshine crown at an upcoming beauty pageant, her wildly dysfunctional family sets out on an interstate road trip to ensure her a clear shot at realizing her dreams. Despite early career success as an outspoken motivational speaker, family patriarch Richard continues to cling to his "Refuse to lose" philosophy, much to the chagrin of his increasingly annoyed spouse, Sheryl. Add into the mix a Nietzsche-reading teenage son who has taken up a vow of silence until he finds his fate as a fighter pilot; a horny, heroin-happy grandfather with a penchant for creative profanity; and a suicidal genius and Proust scholar still reeling about losing both his male lover and his MacArthur Foundation genius grant - and the stage is set for a road trip in which sanity is sure to take the back seat.
This is an odd little picture that ends better than it begins. Although it's listed as a comedy, there's a lot of drama and dark scenes particularly in the beginning. If you're a Steve Carell fan, don't expect him to provide the comedy in this film - he plays a depressed, suicidal, gay guy. Most of the comedy comes from the circumstances that the family has to contend with, not from the actors themselves. However, the little girl has a hilarious scene at the end of the movie. I think the appeal of this film is the fact that it seems to portray real people with real problems and ends with a positive message.
Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Would I watch it again: No
Starring: Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell
I typically watch movies on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while riding the ACE Train from Tracy to Santa Clara. The opinions expressed are those of me, myself and I.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment