Best quote: "Oh my God, I'm getting pulled over. Everyone, just... pretend to be normal." - Richard Hoover
Young Olive Hoover (Abigail Breslin) is seven years old and recently competed in a regional Little Miss Sunshine pageant, and finished runner-up. No, she's not the prettiest girl you'll even see, but this plucky young seven-year-old will steal your heart and do he darndest to win.
On night Olive's family - dad Richard (Greg Kinnear), broke and struggling to get a book published; mom Sheryl (Toni Collette), the glue which holds the family together; brother Dwayne (Paul Dano), who hasn't spoken in six months and wants more than anything to become an air force pilot; and Grandpa (Alan Arkin), a heroin sniffer and a disgruntled war vet - sit down to dinner with the newly arrived guest, Sheryl's brother, frank, who recently tried to kill himself over a gay relationship gone bad.
They are your typical dysfunctional family clan, the kind the academy loves to recognize, like in Ordinary People and American Beauty.
Olive receives a phone message that the reigning Little Miss Sunshine that she lost to cannot compete in the state competition, so she now can compete instead. There is just one problem. The family has to make it to Redondo Beach, California, in two days. They live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, some 800 miles away. The whole clan, brother, grandpa, uncle, all pile into a jalopy VW mini bus and head off to the competition, all for little Olive. But along the way a series of setbacks cripple the chances that Olive will actually be able to compete in the competition after all.
Most of the best lines in the film are given to Alan Arkin, the Grandpa. "Christ! what are you? 15? You gotta be gettin' that young stuff!" He states, " Listen to me, I got no reason to lie to you, don't make the same mistakes I made when I was young. Fuck a lotta women kid, not just one woman, a lotta women. Fuck a lotta women." Arkin richly deserves his Oscar Nomination, his first in almost forty years. Without him, the picture would be dull. The Grandpa character is essential to the story, and makes it ten times better.
Abigail Breslin steals the show with her cuteness and charm, and will absolutely steal your heart, too. She's sassy and knows what she wants, and won't let anyone stop her or tell her no. It was a nice touch that she was nominated because she is, basically, the whole picture.
The film is actually very bittersweet, touching and funny. Everything the family does is for the benefit of little Olive, in the end, no matter what tragedy fells the clan, they all push on for little Olive. The family rallies around her. As long as she is happy, they are happy. Now why can't all families be like that?
Movies it was nominated with for Best Picture:
Babel, The Departed, Letters from Iwo Jima, The Queen
Is the movie worth your time to watch?
7.5/10 24-01-07
Age at win: 72
Nominated for: Best Actor in a Leading Role, Grandpa Hoover, Little Miss Sunshine
Nomination: 2/2 (acting), 2/2 (total); Win: Only
As with many supporting roles that win the Oscar, Arkin’s Grandpa dies halfway through the film. What he does with his time on screen is a plesent change.
Arkin’s turn as Olive Hoover’s grandfather is interesting. Not only is Olive’s grandfather a drug addict, he is also a sailor mouth who’ll cus you out a blue streak. Still, Arkin is the veteren presence in the film that adds a great presence to this, the little indie film that could.
Arkin’s performance was good, but in winning the Oscar, he took away Eddie Murphy’s sure-win for Dream Girls. In one’s humble opinion, Murphy deserved the Oscar more than Arkin.
Still, you have to praise Arkin’s performance. Give him credit for taking a small part and making something out of it.
27-08-08
