All aboard the little yellow van

Dwayne, the Nietzsche-worshiping, air force pilot-wannabe member of our newest dysfunctional movie family, scribbles down on his pocket pad, which he then holds up for all to see. But Little Miss Sunshine is the farthest thing from hellish than he claims.

An extremely funny and well-cast film, Little Miss Sunshine is about a family that scrambles to get their act together in order to support their 7-year-old, youngest member, Olive, who is supposed to compete in a beauty pageant called Little Miss Sunshine. Toni Collette, who plays the mom in the film, once again dazzled with her performance; as did Greg Kinnear (who also appears with Little Miss Sunshine co-star Paul Dano in the upcoming Richard Linklater movie Fast Food Nation). I thought Greg Kinnear was very convincing in his role as a self-help writer struggling to land a book deal with his 9-step program. Alan Arkin, who plays the oversexed, coke-snorting grandfather, was also tremendously funny in this movie. But I think the man who, as always, stole the show was The 40-Year-Old Virgin’s Steve Carell. In the movie, he plays a gay scholar who failed to commit suicide and who had just been released from the hospital. I think this is by far his best performance yet. Not only was he refreshingly subdued in this film, but he was actually pretty good-looking too. He looks great with the beard, and his performance was delivered with such effortless humor that even when he’s not saying anything, you crack up anyway.

All in all, this has been the most fun I’ve had going to the movies in a long time. The characters were each very interesting and well-cast. Paul Dano playing Dwayne was a perfect call. I loved the entire idea of his character. Basically, Dwayne stops talking because he’s taken a vow of silence until he gets into the air force to be a pilot. He starts doing all these push-ups and sit-ups, reading Nietzsche, and adopting this perpetually annoyed stance whenever in the presence of his family. When asked by Steve Carell’s character, Frank, about his social relationships, he replies by scribbing on his notepad: “I hate everyone.”And then when Frank goes, “What about your family?” Dwayne narrows his eyes in this exasperated manner and then abruptly underlines “I hate everyone.”

Even in all its comical glory, Little Miss Sunshine has a heartwarming conclusion. The family starts off with each member being so isolated in his or her own world. Frank (Steve Carell’s character) is so absorbed with mourning for a guy he fell in love with (which was, consequently, the cause for his attempt to commit suicide). The grandfather constantly locks himself in their bathroom and snorts cocaine. The mom is a neurotic smoker who is always running around trying to get things done. The dad is a bankrupt self-help writer who is desperate to land a book deal. Dwayne is dead-set on his vow of silence. Olive, the 7-year-old with dreams of becoming Miss America, is glued to the TV set, playing and replaying the coronation ceremonies of various beauty pageants and mimicking the sobs and open-mouthed squeals of joy by winner of the pageant.

In the start, they seem like people who just happen to live together in the same house. When the movie reaches a conclusion, they are all brought together by one goal: that is, to support Olive in her Little Miss Sunshine pageant. It shows typical family life in America: one that involves sharing a house, which is about it. We can all be so consumed with our own individual dramas that we never get to see the big picture: not everything revolves around us. We don’t get to choose our families, and that’s one of the main points of the story. What we can do is appreciate what we’ve been given. When chaos erupts and we’re only hanging by a thread, sometimes the only way to cope is to reach out to our family for help. Because no matter what, guaranteed, our families will always be there for us.

“Life is one beauty pageant after another,” Paul Dano’s character realizes somewhere near the conclusion of the story. “Fuck beauty pageants.” These are the lines I remember because these lines are actually right. When you think beauty pageants, you think seemingly unattainable criteria, fake smiles, plastic surgery, high heels…Basically, it’s a whole lotta pain. But you have the option of kicking off your high heels, screwing up your talent act, and wiping that beaming smile off your face. Even when you’re not meeting the criteria, the important thing is you tried, and at the same time maintained your integrity while doing it, too.

Another insightful scene was where Frank (Steve Carell’s character) and Dwayne are talking and Dwayne declares, “I wish I could just skip all the bad stuff like high school and go straight to being 18. High school is hell.” Frank then enlightens Dwayne on Marcel Proust and how Proust says the best years of his life were spent when he was suffering. Because in suffering he had learned more than he did when he was happy.

Ultimately, Little Miss Sunshine is a story about winners. “Winners try and losers give up,” Alan Arkin’s character, the oversexed grandpa says to his granddaughter. The family who tries to stick together despite turmoil is a winning family. The contestant who joins the beauty pageant, but doesn’t win, is still a winner. The kid who endures the pain of turbulent high school years emerges stronger and wiser in the end. The moral of the story, then, is that all you gotta do is try. Sometimes you have to chase after a beat-up, yellow Volkswagen van with no brakes, but the point is: it’s all worth it.