On first appearances alone, you could be forgiven for thinking that this was a Disney movie. It looks very family orientated. But in reality, it’s a roadtrip movie with all the awkwardness of an extended family driving in a Kombi van across the states.
Unfortunately this is the kind of movie that’s difficult to talk about without spoiling the whole thing. What I can tell you though is that the characters are just awesome.
The 40 Year Old Virgin guy plays a gay Proust scholar, who’s just been discharged from a psych ward after a suicide attempt. There’s rock and roll a grandpa whose been evicted from a bourgeoise nursing home for his newfound fondness for snorting heroin. Oh then there’s Greg Kinnear, the motiviational type dad, trying to commercialise his 9 step motivational program. The Johnny Ramone lookalike eldest son whose in his 900th day of a vow of silence until he he’s accepted by the Air Force as a fighter pilot. The mum (the Aussie Collette chick from Muriel’s Wedding) and the little 6 year old girl, who is of course Little Miss Sunshine.
Before they trek across the country to enter their daughter in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pagaent in California, the family is well and truly dysfunctional. It becomes very evident that this shaky cross country ride will force them to work together, to get over their shortcomings and get through this unfortunate event together.
In constrast to other films. There’s a bit of the Wizard of Oz in the plot. Insofar that the journey is a bit of a Yellow Brick Road in which each family member has to overcome their shortcomings, but with a lot of sick, twisted laugh out loud moments. Fans of Napoleon Dynamite will be glad to know that there’ s plenty of dorky moments, especially from the dad. Greg Kinnear, the dad, is a true, holster on the belt for the your mobile phone dork and really shows another dimension to his acting here. Infact pretty much everyone puts in a stellar performance. But it’s the Napoleon Dynamite meets Yellow Brick Road thing that makes this movie so damned special.
6 out of 5 for the ending alone. This has to be movie of the year without fail. Not a bad thing can be said about it.