Little Miss Sunshine 2006
A film review by Timothy Voon Copyright 2006 Timothy Voon
4\5 smiles
It is delightful to see a movie that delves into the lives of a family living on the brink of disaster, and finishes by leaving a smile on your face. Everything that could go wrong is going wrong for the Hoover family - dysfunctional, depression, suicide, bankruptcy, marital problems and failed dreams.
What do you do when you are a father (Greg Kinnear) who has penned all his dreams on being a motivational speaker success, and poured the family savings into a promotional deal that just falls through? Or a mother (Toni Collette) who is looking after a family on a limited income, with a suicidal brother (Steve Carrell) and a son (Paul Dano) who refuses to speak to anyone?
The answer is - keep going.
And that's what the Hoover family does. Things maybe bad, and at certain times in the movie, you feel that everything is going to just fall apart as one bad situation leads to a worse situation. Every member of the cast has a 'life dream' that becomes unfulfilled, forcing them to come to terms with their own limitations and mortality. That is until the youngest and most delightful member of our cast Olive Hoover (Abigail Breslin) faces her potential life changing disaster and crisis at the 'Little Miss Sunshine' contest. It is here when innocence and optimism is faced with disapproval and contempt. It is also here that there comes a vital turning point for a family about to disintegrate. And for the first time we see this family laugh, cry, dance and hold hands in unity as their differences and failures and put aside, to protect our 'Little Miss Sunshine' Olive Hoover.
This movie is poignant, heartfelt and so true in many ways about our own family lives. That in adversity a family can either break, or reunite in the most wonderful way.
Wonderful acting from all cast members. Alan Arkin is delightful as grandfather Hoover who teaches young Olive Hoover all the 'wrong' moves. Toni Collette continues to make astute choices in her scripts and movies. Greg Kinnear has come a long way from being a light comedic actor to someone encompassing stronger, dramatic roles, without losing his deft comedic touch. But it is young Abigail Breslin who truly shines in this movie, as she represents in all of us the child who had a Dream to become something great; and fortunately because of the love and support of her family it was not taken away from her by an unforgiving, cruel world.
I do want to note that I am quite shocked at American-style children beauty contests. It was upsetting and even frightening to see children dressed and painted with makeup to the extent that they look unnatural and eerie like 'barbie dolls'. It is sad to see that parents would push their children to these sort of extremes for success and recognition.
Timothy Voon
Email - winklebeck@hotmail.com Web - http://us.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?Tim+Voon
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