No. 33 - Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Welcome to hell...

Rated: R (Restricted) for strong language, some sex and drug content

Directors:  Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris; Screenplay: Michael Arndt

Starring: Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin, Alan Arkin, Bryan Cranston, Beth Grant

Movie Introduction: Here we have the Hoover family: a struggling motivational speaker Richard (Kinnear); a stressed-out wife Sheryl (Collette); a gay, depressed uncle Frank (Carell); a Nietzsche-obsessed teenager Dwayne (Dano) and a mildly perverted grandfather Edwin (Arkin). This dysfunctional crew, all pile into a yellow Volkswagen mini-bus and head to California to support pudgy ten-year-old daughter Olive’s (Breslin) qualification for the Little Miss Sunshine Contest. Everyone’s sanity is stretched beyond their limits during this cross-country trek. 

Defining Moment: meltdown

As the family speeds down the highway on their journey, Olive is playing a game with her coloring books. She gets her brother Dwayne to go along and realizes that he cannot differentiate colors.  Frank overhears this and tells Dwayne, who has taken vow of silence until he gets into fighter-pilot school, the brutal truth that pilots cannot be color blind. This sends the already fragile Dwayne into an emotional tail-spin. He begins to lose it and frantically motions to stop the van! They quickly pull over, the teen jumps out and runs about several yards away. He explodes, expelling all his frustrations and angst! So ends his vow of silence.

Something subtle you might have missed:  philosophy 101

Through this nutty family road movie, we are subtly exposed to two distinct philosophies, those of Frederick Nietzsche and Marcel Proust. Dwayne, who like many teenagers hates his parents, uses Nietzsche's mantra to channel his radical energy, and somehow justify his disdain for the world. A central theme from Proust is that we become who we are because of our struggles. Frank himself has recently endured such troubles - the loss of his boyfriend and the loss of his job - his attempted suicide. When Dwayne finds out he cannot be a pilot, Frank understands his pain. It is through their conversations that they start to understand that success is not claiming a title or winning a contest, it's about being your authentic self and learning from your past tribulations.  

Memorable Quotes:

"Whoa whoa whoa, back up a minute. D'you know what a loser is? A real loser is someone who's so afraid of not winning, they don't even try. Now you're trying, right?" - Grandpa Edwin

"Oh my God, I’m getting pulled over. Everyone, just pretend to be normal." Richard Hoover

"I'd like to dedicate this to my grandpa, who showed me these moves." - Olive Hoover

Dad's Review:

Looking back on my childhood, I can honestly say that we had a level of dysfunction. My parents divorced when I was five. I had ADHD, which drove folks crazy. Mom and I moved ten hours away to live with my sister and her husband, Roberto. My sister was a registered nurse (RN). They had young two children and Roberto was often out of work. He did, however, find time to take long "political" trips to Mexico City. (that's another story.)

Anyway, this film resurrects a memory I have regarding a trip to Dallas to visit Six Flags Over Texas. We spent the day at the park, staying past dark. Of course, no hotel room had been booked. Roberto spent two hours driving around downtown Dallas looking for lodging. We finally landed at a hotel in the middle of the worst part of town, right smack-dab at the intersection of Drug Dealer Avenue and Hooker Boulevard. We clamored into the room, terrified. Yet, we had made it, safe and sound, then Roberto says, "I'm going for a walk."

And he left us. We were mortified. Later that night he finally returned. I remember my Mom giving him a piece of her mind. She did that a lot, come to think of it. We made it home alive, but that was a typical adventure in those days.

Little Miss Sunshine is an adventure like that, only fueled by high-octane gasoline.

Everyone in the film's yellow van has their own set of issues. But, as much as they can, they unite to make sure that Little Olive gets to her Miss Sunshine pageant. One minute in, we all can see this is going to be "one of those trips", with hopefully a happy ending.

One other thing unites our traveling family: Each individual is seeking happiness. The emo teen wants to get away from his family. The father wants to get is book published. The uncle wants to get over his last painful relationship. The mother just wants to hold everything together the best she can. Olive wants to win the contest. Then there's Grandpa-he just wants to speak is mind and look at porn mags.

The trip has it comedic ups and downs and it very effective at character-building.

As part of the Little Miss Sunshine pageant, mousy Olive is required to perform a musical number. Her immediate family is too messed up with their own problems to pay her much notice, much less prepare a talent show routine. Luckily Grandpa Edwin volunteers to help her out. As the family makes the long drive, Edwin works with Olive on her number. He coaches her, gives her encouragement, helps her fine-tune the routine. It's truly heartwarming. All the preparation pays off as Olive takes the stage, beaming with confidence. Her moment is one for the ages! Wow.

So, does the family pass through the crucible and find collective happiness? Very much so, and it is all about the journey.

It is a stellar cast that makes it all work, and the yellow van should be included - it certainly seems to have personality. Alan Arkin, as Grandpa, is a treasure when onscreen.

One final word on families: Guess what - they are all dysfunctional to a degree. Oddly enough, it's the craziness we remember most and laugh about. It makes our family unique. So don't stress over it. Here is what I would tell my younger self, "Relax tiger, it's not as bad as it seems. Just go with it."

Onto No. 34... Señor Senator Travels to The Center of Democracy