Little Miss Sunshine
Directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton
Written by Michael Arndt
Rated R: for language and drug content
By Erik McClanahan
The latest ‘little indie that could’ has climbed its way up to # 3 on the American box-office after a weekend gross of $7.5 million—bringing this mostly smart and hilarious road trip flick’s total box office to date at $23 million (not bad since the film’s estimated budget was a modest $8 million).
Little Miss Sunshine has been gaining a rather strong following with strong word-of-mouth and critical praise. Expanding to 1,430 screens two weeks ago has led to an increase of gross each weekend. The weekend of August 6 the film played on 58 screens and raked in more than $1.4 million, the next weekend $2.6 million, and finally it cracked the top ten at #7 the following weekend with a $5.6 million gross.
This film has already become a mild success with no signs of letting up as more trailers are seen on television everyday.
Is this just another “OK” little movie that is successful courtesy of a bandwagon effect in which American moviegoers fall in love with something that seems different?—like what happened with the way overrated My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Is Little Miss Sunshine finding an audience because moviegoers are sick of the summer blockbusters and ready for more intelligent, personal and well-made films?
The film follows a family as they drive across the southwest corner of America to attend a beauty pageant for young girls. Olive (Abigail Breslin, who you may remember as Mel Gibson’s daughter in Signs who had a habit of placing glasses of half-drunk water around the house) is the youngest daughter of Richard (Greg Kinnear) and Sheryl (Toni Collette).
Olive is in the beauty pageant (something she dreams of doing as she idolizes televised beauty queens on her television at home). Her family—which also includes Olive’s older, mute-by-choice brother Dwayne (Paul Dano who played Klitz in The Girl Next Door), suicidal, gay scholar uncle Frank (Steve Carrell in a fantastic comedic performance), and heroin-snorting grandfather (the also hilarious Alan Arkin)—packs up in an old-school VW bus to make the young Olive’s dreams come true.
The film’s few misfires—like a character’s death and the first words uttered by the son Dwayne—are far-outweighed by its clever, funny parts. The ending is fantastic, and possibly the funniest sequence in years.
The debut film from duel directors Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton is worth the price of admission if you’re looking for a good laugh that won’t insult your intelligence. It is a story about a modern-day dysfunctional American family.
HDFEST grading scale
-Little Miss Sunshine-
Story B
Acting B+
Visuals B-
Originality B
Enjoyability A-
Overall Grade B+
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