Little Miss Sunshine

[AZZenny]

Saw this today, and it was hysterical, which I didn't expect. The whole theater was laughing, even guffawing, throughout.

In simple terms, a heroin-snorting, porn addicted Grampa (Alan Arkin) is helping his sweet 7 year-old granddaughter prepare for a beauty pageant she somehow sort of inadvertently qualified for. She's sweet rather than cute or pretty, and has no idea what kiddy pageants are about.

Also in the household are her goth Nietzche-freak teenage brother who refuses to speak until he gets into the Air Force Academy, her father who is not quite succeeding as a motivational-success speaker/writer but never lets it drop for a minute (Greg Kinnear), her halfway-normal but overwhelmed mother, and now along comes her uncle, a jilted gay professor who just tried to commit suicide.

It becomes a painfully funny, yet very touching, totally absurd road trip as they try to make it from Albuquerque to Redondo Beach for the pageant.

It's an odd mix of things -- it's a pretty smart film, yet at times very broad humor. The two friends I went with and I all really enjoyed it, and like I say, the whole place was laughing -- but it also stops you in your tracks at times with the fact you suddenly really care about these people.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

Really been dying to see this for awhile now.

 

[thirty-two]

Definitely want to see this movie!

 

[Mulli]

Great show. Excellent work by Alan Arkin

 

[Bada0Bing]

I really want to see this. As soon as it is released on DVD I’ll move it to #2 on my queue.

 

[nathan]

I want to see this, but don't feel like showing up at Camelview 30 minutes early to see it. I think I'll wait until it goes into wider release on Friday.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

Wow, hilarious movie, great performances and just so well done...I love comedies like this.

Highly recommended.

 

[Stout]

Good sweet baby Jesus, was this exactly what I needed. This movie rocked. I knew I had a difficult weekend ahead, and I was having a really bad week personally, and the weekend would have been that much harder. Watching this movie on Friday night made me enter the weekend on a cloud, a smile on my face and a compliment for everyone on my lips.

 

[Bada0Bing]

I just watched it. It was extremely funny. Each character was hilarious in their own quirky way.

 

[thirty-two]

This was movie had me rolling - in particular the hospital scene and the end pagaent scene. When that song started playing I about died.

Another funny moment was Steve Carrol's character in the Circle K when he's buying those mags. His facial expressions were hilarious.

Not entirely sure if this is a movie I will enjoy after a 6th and 7th watching though.

 

[Jersey Girl]

This one is also on my list and I am moving it up in the rotation since you all liked it so much.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

This was movie had me rolling - in particular the hospital scene and the end pagaent scene. When that song started playing I about died.

Another funny moment was Steve Carrol's character in the Circle K when he's buying those mags. His facial expressions were hilarious.

Not entirely sure if this is a movie I will enjoy after a 6th and 7th watching though.

One of, if not THE, funniest movie of the year.

 

[Shane]

Now this movie was FUNNY! Absolutley blows away many of the comedies that constantly get pimped in the forum!

 

[Zeno]

My wife bought me this movie for Christmas...it was very entertaining.

 

[Stout]

Now this movie was FUNNY! Absolutley blows away many of the comedies that constantly get pimped in the forum!

 

[Pariah]

I just watched this.

I liked it very much, but I didn't "absolutely love it," like my wife did.

I thought it was interesting that everyone lost something on that trip except for the little girl and the mom. I thought the way it was headed the mom would lose something, too and the idea would be that the innocence and love of the little girl would make everything okay. In a sense that's what happened, except for the mom--she didn't lose anything obvious.

 

[Mulli]

Jason,

The girl lost a grandfather, and the mom her dad?

 

[Pariah]

Jason,

The girl lost a grandfather, and the mom her dad?

The grandfather was the Dad's dad. Also, if you look at it in a broad sense, they all lost the grandfather. From a literary point of view, I don't think that counts. The Grandfather lost his life--that's his loss, and you can't double-up on that, for lack of a better term

Teenage boy: Dream to become a fighter pilot
Steve Carell: Job/Lover/Pride
Grandfather: Life
Dad: Book deal/livelihood
Mom: ??
Little Girl: In my "making sense" of the film, she shouldn't lose anything--she represents hope and innocence in a world full of loss and perversion.

I dunno. I think the filmakers were probably impying something deeper than just telling a quirky story, and seems to me this is the direction. I think they did a good job, but I sure would like to sit down over a beer with the director and screenwriter and pick their brain about what the movie represented.

Like I said, I really liked the movie--I don't mean to nitpick.

 

[Pariah]

Also, the best thing to come out of this movie for me is knowledge of the band Devotchka. I loved the soundtrack, so I looked these guys up and have been listening to them all morning.

Turns out they started out as the band for a Denver-based burlesque show. They're also playing a medium sized theater (sans burlesque, I assume) tonight in Denver. I was going to stay in, but I might see if I can talk the little woman into going to the show.

Here's an interesting NPR interview with some cuts from one of their albums:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4503539

 

[Mulli]

The grandfather was the Dad's dad. Also, if you look at it in a broad sense, they all lost the grandfather. From a literary point of view, I don't think that counts. The Grandfather lost his life--that's his loss, and you can't double-up on that, for lack of a better term

Teenage boy: Dream to become a fighter pilot
Steve Carell: Job/Lover/Pride
Grandfather: Life
Dad: Book deal/livelihood
Mom: ??
Little Girl: In my "making sense" of the film, she shouldn't lose anything--she represents hope and innocence in a world full of loss and perversion.

I dunno. I think the filmakers were probably impying something deeper than just telling a quirky story, and seems to me this is the direction. I think they did a good job, but I sure would like to sit down over a beer with the director and screenwriter and pick their brain about what the movie represented.

Like I said, I really liked the movie--I don't mean to nitpick.

Great analysis. ten points for Gryffindor.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

Great analysis. ten points for Gryffindor.

 

[Russ Smith]

Saw this last night, man that was hilarious. I kept thinking a bit dark but funny but the last scene when Olive gets up and dance had my girlfriend and I laughing out loud. Just hilarious, totally unpredictable you assume they will convince her to not perform, or she's going to freeze up or something.

Sort of similar to the dance scene in Napoleon Dynamite, just hilarious.

 

[jenna2891]

love love love this movie.

 

[abomb]

I'm going to watch this before Sunday.

 

[Pariah]

I'm going to watch this before Sunday.

It's good to have goals.