Little Miss Sunshine

This quirky comedy from first-time film directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris is one of the most welcome surprises of the year. The story is nothing new: a dysfunctional family take a road trip where they start off all hating each other, but by the end learn to become better people. The destination in this case is the “Little Miss Sunshine Pageant,” and the Hoover family has precious little time to rush daughter Olive to Redondo Beach, CA so that she can compete. What sets this film apart from other road trip comedies is the intelligence of Michael Arndt’s script and the pitch perfect performances from all of the actors involved. On page, the dialogue and actions of these characters may have seemed almost implausibly bizarre, but the actors inhabit their roles with such earnestness that it’s hard not to get swept up in their wacky journey without rooting for them every step of the way. It’s been a while since a film has made me laugh out loud as much as this one has.

Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.
Written by Michael Arndt.
Starring Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin and Alan Arkin.

Rated R for language, some sex and drug content. 101 min.

**** so says The Fish