Movies

Link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0449059/

For months I waited in anxious anticipation for Little Miss Sunshine. I all but counted down the days until I would be able to see this cast come together and lend its collective hand to a simple story. The movie has been receiving very favorable reviews from movie lovers and casual viewers alike. Somehow, however, I managed to miss the boat on this one. I may have to reserve judgment somewhat until I can see it again, but who knows when that will be. For now, I will give you my first-impression thoughts.

Some of the things I have read about the movie have praised the character development. I must have been asleep during the part where they added depth to any of the characters. I won't go into too much detail to save the spoilers for a separate conversation, but I only liked what they did with two characters and one of them received about half of the screen time he deserved. The only development given to any character was how he or she contributed to the problem(s) that threatened to pull the family apart.

I was excited for this cast to see how its members would interact on screen. I wanted to see how well they would banter together. The focus of the movie, however, was the story rather than the writing/dialogue. The story did not deserve all of this attention. Each character provided maybe one scene of comedy and that was it.

So many scenes and ideas were run into the ground. Something would be suggested in dialogue and the theater audience would laugh. Those who laughed would see the suggestion play out in their minds and that, in most movies, would be the end of it. Little Miss Sunshine then took it a step further to then act out that suggestion after the laughs had already been received. Too many scenes dragged on with almost no purpose. I think Little Miss Sunshine could have been a short film if only the length of the movie weren't necessary to build the suspense leading to the actual beauty pageant (and even that scene ran too long).

I like the idea of a movie geared towards the importance of family; one that shows us that usually no one understands or accepts our quirks better than our family. We all have problems, and together we can work them out. Each member of the family was different. They thought they were all on their own, isolated island. It was from a last-minute road trip, which forced them into each other's lives, that they began to see that they were there to support each other. I like the message, I just did not care much for the vehicle with which they pushed the message.

Abigail Breslin was adorable. I cannot, and I need not, elaborate much further. She was the bright shining star in this picture that played the young girl, Olive, and she was figuratively the glue that held this movie together. Credit is due, also, to the costume team who dressed her in the most freakishly bizarre yet amazingly precious outfits.

Alan Arkin was the other highlight for me in Little Miss Sunshine. It was his on-screen time that I mentioned above was not what it should have been. He deserved more, alas the part was not written to allow it. He has always been the Police Captain from So I Married An Axe Murderer to me, and now he's Grandpa from Little Miss Sunshine. This was a great part, and I cannot articulate how fantastic he was.

On their contributions alone I wish I were able to suggest you go see this movie. Maybe upon a second viewing I would find the magic everyone else sees in this movie. For whatever reason, I did not really enjoy Little Miss Sunshine.

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