Little Miss Sunshine
The dysfunctional family in Little Miss Sunshine (Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Steve Carell, Paul Dano and Toni Collete) who take to the road heading to California and a beauty pagaent for their young daughter Olive, a slightly deluded and chubby seven year old, coached by her unorthodox grandfather. She goes on to do battle with the airbrushed Californian beauties, but only after a sidesplitting road trip.CHRIS: We opened our account at the Sydney Film Festival with the American comedy Little Miss Sunshine, mainly on the strength of a cast including Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear and Steve Carell. It's a tenderly made film, with echoes of all sorts of past great American films, from the National Lampoon series all the way to recent efforts like The Squid and the Whale. However, this film really struck a chord with me, much more so than those other films.
SCOTT: In the gaudy surreal setting of the State Theatre Little Miss Sunshine proved to be an interesting, quirky experience. The film, whilst often hilariously funny, did have its limitations. The characters seemed unneccessarily outlandish, none more so than the crackpot, pornography-and-drug-addicted Grandpa, played by the great Alan Arkin. I also felt the opening was somewhat contrived, forcing this family together into a Kombi van for no other reason than it serviced the plot of the movie. A certain reality was forsaken in the pursuit of laughs.
CHRIS: The grandpa was great wasn't he... I had no problem with the quirks really, it seemed to me that they were each believeable as characters in their own right, and I was ready to go along with them in that ridiculous car. Perhaps the film was supposed to be more whimisical and less realistic? Some of the jokes I agree were a bit overdone, but no matter how many times they had to push and jump into that car it still would have cracked me up. More seriously, I thought the film had some important points about growing up and all that guff: it covered a lot of thematic ground without necessarily beating the audience about the head. Steve Carell was particularly good in this capacity as the suidical, gay uncle.
SCOTT: Yeah Steve Carell was good in what was really a dramatic role, as opposed to his 'acting' in the semi-trailer smash-up that was The 40 Year Old Virgin. The teenage son Dwayne, played by Paul Dano, did irritate me at times. How many teenagers have you met who take a vow of silence because of Nietzche, because they want to get into the airforce, only to then find out anticlimatically that they are colourblind? You can just see the writer sitting around, having a stream of consciousness along the lines of: 'Hmmmm.....I think we need a teenage son....with teenage angst.......because teenagers have angst.....but I need to make him quirky.......hey I did a thesis on Nietzche and Proust at college......how can I work that in.... Luckily (or unluckily) it meant Paul Dano didn't really have to act at all for most of the film, up until the trademark outburst on the side of the road. Surely you don't agree Chris?
CHRIS: I thought the Paul Dano character was definately the weakest in the film, and particularly the moment when he discovered his colour-blindness was the worst handled I thought. The Nietzschean vow of silence had me in stiches, but I'll give it to you it was unconvincing perhaps when approached from a logical point of view. To be honest Scott, whatever you can say about the characterisations, I think the script hangs together with some genuinely witty moments, gentle and unobstrusive camera work that really complemented the style of the film. I haven't laughed this much in the cinema for a long while (full credit to Kinnear and Collette who provide career highlight performances, not to mention the young actress playing Olive) and I think if you're willing to be taken into the film as I was, there is so much more to enjoy in Little Miss Sunshine than your average American indie offering.
SCOTT: I agree that it is mostly an enjoyable film, but I still have minor reservations when I look back at it as a whole. Perhaps my expectations are too high for what is an unassuming, fun little picture. The end is particularly hilarious and cringe-worthy. I also having nothing but praise for the fantastic music throughout, if only major Hollywood films took as much effort to create a distinctive style and feel. Overall I was pleasantly satisfied with Little Miss Sunshine.
SCOTT:
SCOTT: In the gaudy surreal setting of the State Theatre Little Miss Sunshine proved to be an interesting, quirky experience. The film, whilst often hilariously funny, did have its limitations. The characters seemed unneccessarily outlandish, none more so than the crackpot, pornography-and-drug-addicted Grandpa, played by the great Alan Arkin. I also felt the opening was somewhat contrived, forcing this family together into a Kombi van for no other reason than it serviced the plot of the movie. A certain reality was forsaken in the pursuit of laughs.
CHRIS: The grandpa was great wasn't he... I had no problem with the quirks really, it seemed to me that they were each believeable as characters in their own right, and I was ready to go along with them in that ridiculous car. Perhaps the film was supposed to be more whimisical and less realistic? Some of the jokes I agree were a bit overdone, but no matter how many times they had to push and jump into that car it still would have cracked me up. More seriously, I thought the film had some important points about growing up and all that guff: it covered a lot of thematic ground without necessarily beating the audience about the head. Steve Carell was particularly good in this capacity as the suidical, gay uncle.
SCOTT: Yeah Steve Carell was good in what was really a dramatic role, as opposed to his 'acting' in the semi-trailer smash-up that was The 40 Year Old Virgin. The teenage son Dwayne, played by Paul Dano, did irritate me at times. How many teenagers have you met who take a vow of silence because of Nietzche, because they want to get into the airforce, only to then find out anticlimatically that they are colourblind? You can just see the writer sitting around, having a stream of consciousness along the lines of: 'Hmmmm.....I think we need a teenage son....with teenage angst.......because teenagers have angst.....but I need to make him quirky.......hey I did a thesis on Nietzche and Proust at college......how can I work that in.... Luckily (or unluckily) it meant Paul Dano didn't really have to act at all for most of the film, up until the trademark outburst on the side of the road. Surely you don't agree Chris?
CHRIS: I thought the Paul Dano character was definately the weakest in the film, and particularly the moment when he discovered his colour-blindness was the worst handled I thought. The Nietzschean vow of silence had me in stiches, but I'll give it to you it was unconvincing perhaps when approached from a logical point of view. To be honest Scott, whatever you can say about the characterisations, I think the script hangs together with some genuinely witty moments, gentle and unobstrusive camera work that really complemented the style of the film. I haven't laughed this much in the cinema for a long while (full credit to Kinnear and Collette who provide career highlight performances, not to mention the young actress playing Olive) and I think if you're willing to be taken into the film as I was, there is so much more to enjoy in Little Miss Sunshine than your average American indie offering.
SCOTT: I agree that it is mostly an enjoyable film, but I still have minor reservations when I look back at it as a whole. Perhaps my expectations are too high for what is an unassuming, fun little picture. The end is particularly hilarious and cringe-worthy. I also having nothing but praise for the fantastic music throughout, if only major Hollywood films took as much effort to create a distinctive style and feel. Overall I was pleasantly satisfied with Little Miss Sunshine.
SCOTT:
CHRIS:
posted by Chris @ 13:18
0 comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home