Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

Little Miss Sunshine
2006
**½
Director: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Cast: Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Alan Arkin, Abigail Breslin, Paul Dano, Steve Carell

A dysfunctional family travels on an old unreliable VW bus (note the subtle symbolism) to take the seven-year-old daughter to a beauty pageant. The car gradually breaks down while the family members vent out their respective issues. This indie hit attempts to be quirky and subversive, but ultimately it's a conservative and not-particularly-funny comedy that pays tribute to the power of the family. It's yet another movie which cannot decide whether it's for or against children's beauty pageants. Alan Arkin and Michael Arndt's screenplay won Academy Awards.