Monday, September 22, 2008

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

One of the most brilliant dramas I have ever seen is actually this dark and quirky little comedy, "Little Miss Sunshine". It deals with human realism in a way never done before, so real are these characters that when you see each of them, you'd immediately associate them with a person you know in real life. The emotions, characteristics and personalities are incredibly humane in this film. With this factor as it's standing strong point, it delivers a fantastic cinematic experience.

"Little Miss Sunshine" follows the Hoovers, a dysfunctional family with extremely unique characters. You have the chain-smoking mom, a gay uncle, a vulgar grand dad, a ironic motivational speaker that can't practice what he preaches as a father, a angsty and rebellious teen who doesn't speak and finally, the member who binds all of these characters together, an innocent and cute six year old girl. Olive Hoover, the girl, has one dream: to win the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant contest. She finally gets the opportunity to realize her dream when she is invited to participate in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant far off in California. Unable to bear the guilt of destroying the little girl's dream, the entire family sets on a journey to bring her to California despite their own troubles.

I cannot stress how well these characters were portrayed as even though their real life counterparts probably annoys you, it is so easy to feel for them as they each are very likable in their own way. It's almost frightening how you can relate so well to these characters. "Little Miss Sunshine" has many funny moments and they were very well done in taste so if you are looking for slapstick humor, skip this film. This film takes the "never give up" spirit, which has been done so many times, as it's theme but delivers it in a unique way which makes it very memorable to watch.

I personally rate this movie a 8/10 for it's realism, originality and tasteful humor.

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