Little Miss Sunshine Film Critique

The film Little Miss Sunshine is the one I chose for our Independent Film Project. The story follows the Hoovers, a dysfunctional family residing in Albuquerque, NM. The family consists of dad Richard Hoover, an aspiring but failing motivational speaker; stressed, over worked, and "pro honesty" mother Sheryl Hoover; Sheryl's brother Frank, a gay scholar of the French author Marcel Proust; and  Richard's obscene, foul mouthed father Edwin. Additionally, the unhappy and silent seventeen-year-old Dwayne who has taken a vow of silence until he successfully makes his way into the Air Force Academy; and last but not least, adorable little seven-year-old Olive Hoover, a beauty queen wannabe and the main focus of the film.

In the film, the Hoovers struggle to enter Olive in the annual Little Miss Sunshine Beauty Pageant, so being on a tight budget, they all pile into the family's bright yellow VW T2 Microbus and head for their destination, with a two day dead line. The journey takes each character through a drastic emotional change as well his or her own epiphany of sorts.

The movie isn't related through a certain character's perspective, but rather from the perspective of an outside observer. There aren't any particularly unusual filming techniques, or any unique ways the movie was filmed that stood out to me. What did stand out the most to me was the development of each character emotionally as well as spiritually. The characters all have individualized epiphanies, specifically targeting the issues of inner beauty, as well as society's ideal image, and the the concept that the ideal image may not be someone else's ideal image. Other key focus points for the film were accepting the failures life throws at us, and understanding that no matter how many losses we may face, that doesn't make us failures or "losers".  The film challenges the viewer to see that the road to finding the inner self is a long, often painful journey, but is many times worth it in the end.  And also that some may never find their place in this world, and although this is a hard fact to face, we must learn to receive this with dignity and humility.

I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys a good laugh, and who may be willing to see the meaningful life lesson written between the lines. However, there is quite a bit of foul language and sexual innuendo incorporated into the film, which isn't particularly suitable for younger viewers. Little Miss Sunshine is a film that anyone could learn something from and enjoy watching at the same time.