Since Premiering at Sundance in 2006, "Little Miss Sunshine" Remains One of the Strongest Comedies Through Its Witty Dark Humor and Lovable Characters

“Little Miss Sunshine” is one of the wittiest comedies from the past ten years. Directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton, this film brings unique characters into a dark, somewhat twisted setting and makes it brighter. It shows realistic people in all stages of life, struggling to figure out who they are, what they want and how they’re going to move forward.

The film is about a little girl named Olive who gets called at the last minute to compete in the “Little Miss Sunshine” pageant. The family can’t afford to fly so instead they decide to drive their VW bus from their home in New Mexico to California. It’s essentially a dysfunctional (but really average, let’s not kid ourselves) family on a road trip.

Abigail Breslin plays Olive and Toni Collette plays her mother, Sheryl. Toni Collette is one of my favorite actresses. She always picks really great roles and this is no exception. She’s not one of the biggest characters in the movie, but her presence is invaluable. While the other characters frantically try to find themselves, Sheryl is there, slightly uncertain but strong enough to hold everyone else together. Movie mothers are often jealous, overbearing or hard to please, so when a film finally portrays a mother who just loves her children and supports them no matter what, it’s amazing.

I’m always a fan of movies that promote healthy relationships between mothers and daughters. I believe it’s important for young girls to see what a good relationship looks like, and should feel like. Every relationship is unique, but every child should be allowed and encouraged to be himself or herself. That’s another reason this movie is so strong; Olive isn’t a “beauty queen.” She doesn’t fit into the pageant scene, but she goes anyway and she doesn’t change herself to blend in. She’s just Olive and her confidence, as young as she may be, encourages her family to rediscover their own individuality.

The rest of the cast includes Steve Carell, Paul Dano, Greg Kinnear, and Alan Arkin. Seriously, that is a hard cast to beat.  They’re all great actors, but Paul Dano has to be my favorite. He’s incredibly talented and plays the character Dwayne flawlessly. Dano recently worked with directing duo Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton again in 2012 on the film "Ruby Sparks."

“Little Miss Sunshine” offers dark humor with a warm heart. No matter who you are or what you’ve been through, you’ll find a character to relate to and invest in throughout the film.