The month is July, and up here in North America, family vacations and the road trip are in full swing. Little Miss Sunshine (Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris, 2006) takes the family road trip, and builds a comedy out of the ritual that's both funny and thoughtful. The film benefits from a fine screenplay (Michael Arndt), as well as the sharp work of its directors and ensemble cast.
II.
The Hoovers live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There is Sheryl and Richard Hoover (Toni Collette and Greg Kinnear), their seven-year-old daughter Olive (Abigail Breslin), and Sheryl's son from an earlier marriage, the teenage Dwayne (Paul Dano). Two other adult family members have also taken up residence with the Hoovers: Richard's ageing father Edwin (Alan Arkin), and Sheryl's brother Frank (Steve Carrell).
Sunshine makes quick work of attaching signature bits of business to members of the family Hoover. Sheryl's brother Frank is a Proust scholar, who has tried to kill himself recently over a romantic disappointment. Sheryl has brought him home to supervise Frank's continued suicide-watch. Richard, Sheryl's husband, is busy trying to make a success out of promoting a motivational program. Richard's father, Edwin, enjoys recreational drugs and spouting obscenities, mostly because at his age, he doesn't give a fork what anybody thinks. Sheryl's son Dwayne is a moody adolescent, who has taken a vow of silence for reasons best known to him alone.
And then there's Olive, whose dream of competing in a children's beauty pageant in Redondo Beach, has all the Hoovers pile into a rickety yellow van, and head out on the open road.
III.
I won't spoil by elaborating what exactly happens when the family finally reaches the pageant in California. What I will say is that the concluding number is well-worth the wait, both in its affirmation and irony. Boy, those Hoovers really showed them! And themselves.
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