Little Miss Sunshine DVD review

Characters:

Richard Hoover is a motivational speaker who's a tad too enthusiastic about his life skills programme.

His wife Sheryl is an overworked Mum who seeks respite in the occasional cigarette.

Sheryl's brother Frank has just recovered from an attempt to kill himself over a failed relationship.

Richard's Dad Edwin loves his granddaughter, heroin, porn magazines and the f-word.

Dwayne, the Hoovers' son, is an over-emotional guy, and a Nietzsche-reading teen who has taken a vow of silence until he realizes his dream of becoming a pilot.

Olive, the Hoovers' daughter, is the livewire of the family and has made it to the finals of the Little Miss Sunshine pageant.

Plot:

The Hoovers hit the road to California where the Little Miss Sunshine finals are held. Along the way, the Hoovers encounter setback after setback in the form of vehicle problems, family feuds and even death. But the Hoovers are too stubborn to give up and will do anything, however crazy or silly, to give Olive her chance to shine.

My comments:

What I like best about this movie is the characters. There's not a scrap of wooden dialogue and everyone has unique, 3-D personalities. What's more, they're all likeable, even if some of them have rather questionable behaviours, to put it euphemistically. Edwin for one is certainly not a role model for little kids. Yet it is Edwin who makes the wisest comment in the entire movie; the comment that basically sums up what the entire movie is all about: A real loser is one that is so afraid of not winning that he doesn't even try. It turns out that the Hoovers, for all their troubles, aren't the losers they appear to be. Dwayne refuses to jettison his dream of becoming a pilot in spite of a major setback. Richard, in spite of having it worst of all the Hoovers, pushes hard for what he believes in. Perhaps adversity really does bring out the best in people.

The one scene that justifies spending 103 minutes of your time:
How the Hoovers reacted to the demise of a certain someone

The one scene that would eject you from your seat:
The hyper sexualized participants of the Little Miss Sunshine pageant

Best quotes:
"A real loser is one that is so afraid of not winning he doesn't even try." ~ Edwin

"You do what you love and **** the rest." ~ Dwayne

Little Miss Sunshine DVD is available in the DRUM for loan.

By Wan Ying Yi
Pictures courtesy of Google and Wikipedia