MikePadgett.com

Little Miss Sunshine

— The heir apparent to Parenthood, a funny-poignant look at an American family struggling with American social mores.”

• Directors: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
• United States, 2006
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Whereas the Tenenbaums prickle with fairytale dysfunction, with the awkward realism of Little Miss Sunshine‘s family we never reach the safety and comfort of caricature.

So we cannot simply label Grandpa’s heroin addiction, Dwayne’s vow of silence and Richard’s ludicrous moral manifesto as “just plain kooky”, because it’s just too genuine and the result is richly comic.

The ensemble performance is nicely balanced. It’s just a shame that the comparative brevity of Alan Arkin’s part was essential to the story, because the contrast between Arkin’s irascible old man and Carell’s sensitive, wounded son-in-law is exquisite.