It took me a while to go see Little Miss Sunshine, in part because I feared that it may prove to be this year’s Sideways: a solidly good film that somehow sets off a combustion reaction of overenthusiastic critical praise resulting in the film being mildly, if not considerably, overrated. However, the need to pick up the stereo receiver from the repair shop provided an excuse to patronize an otherwise inconvenient cinema where Sunshine was still playing. (One of many advantages of getting rid of your car is that trips to nearby neighborhoods can become outings.) I am happy to report that Little Miss Sunshine deserves the kudos it has received, both on the festival circuit and in distribution.
The star of movie is, without question, nine-year-old Abigail Breslin as Olive, who learns (rather enthusiastically, as anyone who’s seen the trailer knows) that she has qualified for the Little Miss Sunshine child pageant when the winner of her local competition was disqualified. Olive is no beauty queen, (as no nine-year-old should be) and the movie isn’t really about the twisted phenomenon of parading little girls in bathing suits and make up before a panel of adult judges. The last segment of the film says all it needs to about this truly misguided practice.
Instead, the film is a dysfunctional family road movie. The floundering Hoover family can’t afford to fly Olive and her mother (Toni Collette, as good as ever) to the contest, mom can’t operate a manual transmission, and mom’s gay Proust scholar brother (a revelatory Steve Carell) can’t be left alone after his recent suicide attempt. Therefore
loser-in-motivational-coach’s-clothing Dad (Greg Kinnear) drives the entire family in the family VW van, including oversexed Grandpa (Alan Arkin), who was recently kicked out of his retirement community for taking up heroin snorting, and the teenage, world-hating son (Paul Dano), whose goal of becoming a fighter pilot has inspired a months-long vow of silence.
I don’t always laugh during funny films, even successful comedies. Little Miss Sunshine’s situational and expositional humor, however, generated several episodes of audible laughter. The film also tugs at the heartstrings, unfortunately a little too deliberately with Alan Arkin’s character. And with the exception of a roadside scene following an amateur eye exam and the family’s reaction to Olive’s final “talent” performance, the characters and situations ring surprisingly true, given the film’s general absurdity. Like Olive, Little Miss Sunshine’s effect belies its slight packaging.
Here are this morning’s Oscar-nominated films, alphabetically. The nominees for foreign language film and documentary feature are compiled at the end of the list. (Short format nominees are listed in a 
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