Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Directed by: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris | 99 minutes | drama, comedy | Actors: Abigail Breslin, Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Toni Colette, Steve Carell, Paul Dano, Bryan Cranston, Jill Talley, Justin Shilton, Paula Newsome, Wallace Langham, Lauren Shiohama

In the American tragicomedy ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ we meet the Hoovers, a family of eccentrics who go out together for a weekend. Such a traveling mess is no stranger to the art house circuit. In 2005 we also saw a struggling family during a trip in ‘Familia Rodante’. Just like in that Argentinian film, ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ neatly follows the unwritten rules of the road movie. The family members get to know each other and themselves better and are changed forever by the end of the journey. The message the film aims to convey is also not startling, although the words Uncle Frank uses here are rarely used: ‘Do what you love and fuck the rest’.

The fact that ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ broadly follows the beaten track does not detract from its quality. This is entirely due to the strong elaboration of the material. The humor is always infectious, whether it’s the fiddling with the Volkswagen, the cramped positivism of Father Richard or the commentary of the snorting and screaming grandfather.

Just at the right moments, opposite those humorous passages are a few surprisingly moving scenes. While in comparable films there is often a gaping void beneath the eccentric surface of the main characters, the Hoovers turn out to be people of flesh and blood. You can see the suffering in Mother Sheryl and Uncle Frank (a great Steve Carell) in particular, and that means that the emotional scenes also reach the viewer.

Without ever becoming tacky, ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ is such a perfect mix of comedy and drama. Add to this a great cast and some great music (including Sufjan Stevens and Rick James) and it becomes clear that ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ is a real winner. A film where you leave the room with a big smile and you also get a huge desire to practice some dance steps yourself. But to understand the latter, you really have to see this wonderful feel-good movie.