Little Miss Sunshine is a film that I could watch over and over and never get bored. This film manages to do something that truly amazes me, it balances comedy and tragedy and comedy perfectly in such a way that depending on what day you watch it certain scenes will either have you in stitches or crying your eyes out.
A lot of this comes down to the performances, Carell, Kinnear and Collette are no stranger to comedy and get to show off their improve skills and comedic timing throughout however they take a more relaxed and nuanced approx so that the real heart of each scene is never lost.
This film also throws in a rather profound message about identity and self worth that a viewer may not see being set up on first viewing. Some moments have the capacity to hit you like a brick if you let them and can stick in your mind for days after.
The scene where Dwayne Discoverers that he is colour-blind is one of my favourite moments in cinema. Paul Dano’s completely unhinged performance matched with some great camera work are a big part of why this film has stuck with me for so long. This scene is a perfect example of how this film can have you laughing through your tears as the absurd nature of the moment never fully undercuts the raw emotion that the character is feeling.
Really this film is about laughing through your tears. Little Miss Sunshine tells us that it is okay to fail, it is okay not to be happy and it is okay not to fit the mould that society wants you too. It sets up what at first seem to be fairly generic character types and then exposes them to be complete three dimensional people. Much like how the film may appear to be a basic road trip comedy but is so much more.
This is the classic example of a movie where the parts are much better than the sum. I adore so many of the actors in this movie.... I really thought that I would love it. There isn't anything inherently wrong with this movie - it just isn't great by any stretch of the imagination. At different points it is a drama, a comedy and even satirical (Christopher Guest flashed through my mind towards the end) but it never excelled at being any of the three. What makes it even that much more odd is that I think that the characters were well-defined and had room to grow - I can't think of another similar movie that seemed similarly set up for success but then didn't be anything more then "meh". A few years later Collette and Carell would team up in the far-superior The Way, Way Back.
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The most amazing movie for all the time!!! I wear a t-shirt with Olive face proudly!
Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion!
What makes it special is how it manages to hit so many emotional beats that are simultaneously depressing/melancholic and funny, without ever feeling like a Coen brothers or Wes Anderson copy.
Great characters, fantastic dialogue, memorable scenes, interesting message; good on Michael Arndt for getting an Oscar for this.
Music’s excellent, cinematography and editing are pretty good (some scenes are more visually interesting than others).
The only thing that I don’t love is the gag of the van continuously becoming more broken, the horn joke in particular got a little annoying.
But still, this is one of those rare comedies that manages to be very uplifting without being another basic, sugarcoated, lame crowdpleaser. You have to recognize it for that.
8/10
Also, since this family is from Albuquerque, and the movie stars both Bryan Cranston and Dean Norris, I feel like there’s a joke in here somewhere about it secretly being a Breaking Bad prequel.
Dysfunctional family, but with hearts of gold. Absolutely enjoyed every single minute of their adventure. Dwayne has quickly became one of my new favorite characters. His love for his sister (despite hating literally everyone else) is endearing.
Just a riot of emotions from beginning to the end. Great work with the soundtrack, always the same but rearranged with different instruments and with different tones. Applause to the director, that transformed all the drammatic scenes in hilarious one.
Un tripudio di emozioni dall'inizio alla fine. Ottimo lavoro con la colonna sonora, sempre uguale ma riorganizzata con strumenti diversi e con toni diversi. Applausi al regista, che ha trasformato tutte le scene drammatiche in esilaranti.
Just saw it for the first time, it was on my radar for years and finally I saw it.
and is a god damn an excellent movie.
Sad but extremely funny.
A great dark comedy!
Very good movie with a lot of funny moments. The acting was also all great.
Wow, what a movie. The messages here, as well as the development of the characters and the performances are some of the best in the biz. Definitely going to give this one time to marinate and fully soak in, but I think this might be a modern classic. I personally read the pageant as a symbolism of everyone and their families out there. We all attempt to put on a show like we're these perfect, well adjusted, amazing people but we're all secretly from weird, messed up roots; and that's OK. The symbolism of the yellow Volkswagen and the modern family structure was also so well done. Sure the door is flying off, it takes a huge push to get going, the horn is constantly blaring and the baggage of your dead grandfather is in the back, but as a unit we hold each other together and can get anywhere. What a beautifully written movie. Damn. I need to watch this again :sweat_smile:
What a beautiful movie. I’m full of enjoy.
Incredibly funny, despite many of the characters being in some pretty dark headspaces. I was impressed with the tone of the screenplay, managing to hit high notes and low with equal measures of aplomb.
Annoying, boring and very unfunny.
This is one of my favourite films and it's so lovely! Balanced audience cringe with feel goodness so the suposedly hard to watch moments are heartwarming instead of spine shivering. LOVE IT
"I'd like to dedicate this to my grandpa, who showed me these moves."
I feel bad that everyone loves this movie and I thought it was just fun. I can see what they were going for, but for the most part I was felt depressed and a little anxious while watching it. That being said, Abigail Breslin is what made this movie for me! Her performance cracked me up, and the famous scene made it worth the wait.
A good plot with interesting characters and great acting.
Good movie with nice development in characters and great perfomances.7.5/10
Brilliant writing brought to life by a hilarious cast.
Shout by DRNKMNKYBlockedParentSpoilers2015-07-02T11:17:45Z
I did not expect all too much from this movie and bought the BluRay mainly because of all the good things I kept on reading about it. But boy, was I in for a surprise: the story is told in a saracastic way and with some very black humour, but at the some time with so much emotions that I just have to love it.
The characters (from the drug addict grand father, over the overworked mother, the suicidal uncle and the mute-by-choice teenage son to the jobless father, who tries to get a new career as a motivational speaker started) are absolutely hilarious, the criticism on kid beauty contests as one example of what is wrong with this world and its beauty mania very pointed and the plot so entertaining that I just regret not having watched this comedy earlier.