# "Little Miss Sunshine" on your radar? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 20, 2006, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321 "2006-07-20T12:53:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2006, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/1 "2006-07-20T12:53:46Z")
I’d have to say I’m more psyched for [Little Miss Sunshine](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449059/) than anything else this summer. A dysfunctional family roadtrip pic. The real wildcards here are the writer. . .who according to IMDB has pretty much written nothing, and the director who has spent his career making videos. Of course, that didn’t hurt Spike Jonez any when he made _Being John Malkovich_. Anyway, the movie got big buzz at Sundance. The thing to get excited about is that that cast. . . For my money, Toni Collette is the best actress working right now. (go watch _In her Shoes_, _About a Boy_ and _A Japanese Story_ and try to disagree with me 😉 .) Greg Kinnear has been on a solid run since _As Good As It Gets_ with memorable performances in _Stuck on You_ and recently _The Matador_ (see that, if you haven’t). Steve Carrell is in it and he’s pretty big right now, and it looks like he’s toned it down for this movie. If you saw _40 Year Old Virgin_ you know he’s more than just a funny face. And then Alan Arkin. . .need I say more? Go see _Slums of Beverly Hills_ if you want to see him “do funny”. Anyway, keep an eye out for it. I’ve seen trailers for it at the theater, but haven’t really seen much on the TV about it. It looks pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2006, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/2 "2006-07-20T13:39:29Z")
Totally. I had a shot at free tickets – but one of the two showings was while I was in Wyoming, and the other will be while I’m on vacation. Looks like I’m gonna have to pay actual money to see this… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/3 "2006-07-20T16:25:39Z")
…I thought it looked like it was trying too damn hard to be the quirky indie comedy of the year. Seriously, they do the leaving the kid behind on the trip gag… That’s not funny, hasn’t been since Home Alone. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2006, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/4 "2006-07-25T16:26:58Z")
Bump, because I just saw a preview of this last night in Denver. This is the funniest movie I’ve seen since The Aristocrats. That’s the last time I laughed so hard my sides hurt, and I was crying. It is unbelievable! Carell at his deadpan best, Alan Arkin is phenomanal, and the rest fo the cast is fantastic! Some of the gags are a little roadworn, but the setup, timing and execution are so good that it’s forgivable. In a perfect world, this will be the sleeper of the summer. A little character tale with no pirates. Go see this when it’s released! ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/5 "2006-07-25T16:42:05Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > Bump, because I just saw a preview of this last night in Denver. This is the funniest movie I’ve seen since The Aristocrats. That’s the last time I laughed so hard my sides hurt, and I was crying. It is unbelievable! > > Carell at his deadpan best, Alan Arkin is phenomanal, and the rest fo the cast is fantastic! > > Some of the gags are a little roadworn, but the setup, timing and execution are so good that it’s forgivable. In a perfect world, this will be the sleeper of the summer. A little character tale with no pirates. > > Go see this when it’s released! Good to hear. The meager amount of reviews it has so far received at rotten tomatoes have been positive. It seems to be in “limited release” starting tomorrow. My local theater has been promoting it, but they don’t yet have it in their list of “upcoming shows”. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/6 "2006-09-17T22:59:07Z")
Had to revive this thread to say that we just saw the film and I really thought I was going to stroke out. Tears, snot, stomach hurting. Holy crap, this is a funny movie. The cast is perfect, Alan Arkin is a genius, as are Colette and Carell. I don’t remember the last time I laughed out loud for such a prolonged period in a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/7 "2006-09-17T23:15:06Z")
A dear friend of mine loved this movie, but my parents hated it. They said it was “too dark and depressing” – but these people didn’t like Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, Lost In Translation, or The Office (either version), so I wonder if it’s a generational thing. I am waiting until it hits the dollar theaters around here, but I do want to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/8 "2006-09-17T23:48:39Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] Had to revive this thread to say that we just saw the film and I really thought I was going to stroke out. Tears, snot, stomach hurting. Holy crap, this is a funny movie. The cast is perfect, Alan Arkin is a genius, as are Colette and Carell. I don’t remember the last time I laughed out loud for such a prolonged period in a movie. [/QUOTE] We went to see this last night. _Hilarious!_ ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/9 "2006-09-18T00:30:09Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] We went to see this last night. _Hilarious!_ [/QUOTE] beeeeEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeee **EEEE** ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/10 "2006-09-18T00:32:56Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] beeeeEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeee **EEEE** [/QUOTE] Okay, I did laugh out loud at that post. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/11 "2006-09-18T01:33:00Z")
This is the only movie this year (so far) that I can honestly say had any sort of strong reaction to. There have been a bunch of alright to good movies that I’ve seen but this one was hysterical. I don’t even know where to begin. For a period of about 15 minutes near the end of the movie, the entire theatre didn’t stop laughing. I wish I could go into more detail but it’s been a while since I’ve seen it. I pretty much agree with Chefguy. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/12 "2006-09-18T01:45:00Z")
My wife and I saw this about three weeks ago, and I’m with all the rest of you. We absolutely loved this film. Great from beginning to end. If you haven’t seen it, GO! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/13 "2006-09-18T02:15:34Z")
Be forewarned that if you dislike dark humor, you may not like all of it. But there is enough outright funny moments to suit everyone. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/14 "2006-09-18T05:11:09Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] Good to hear. The meager amount of reviews it has so far received at rotten tomatoes have been positive. It seems to be in “limited release” starting tomorrow. My local theater has been promoting it, but they don’t yet have it in their list of “upcoming shows”. [/QUOTE] So, **Trunk** , have you seen it yet? It’s currently playing at The Charles, and i’m going to try and get along to see it this week. It got an excellent review in the _New Yorker_ recently. And i love Toni Collette. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/15 "2006-09-18T06:17:20Z")
I’m going to have to break ranks here. I saw it a few weeks ago, and, despite the fantastic cast (I’m with you on Toni Collette, **mhendo** ), I was completely underwhelmed. Spoilers: [spoiler]The film felt like someone had sat down to adhere as closely as possible to an emerging genre of “fun family dysfunction.” Every character in the picture was a tried-and-true cliche of “quirky” movies: the sullen high-schooler (are we really supposed to believe that a kid with a gigantic portrait of Nietzche on his wall plans to join the Air Force?); the profane but good-hearted grandpa; the hyper-positive go-getter Dad who’s actually a failure; the depressed, anomic academic; etc. More than that, though, there was a weird disconnect between the characters and the plot. We’re supposed at times to take these characters seriously in their pathos: Steve Carell’s being just off a suicide attempt, the sullen brother’s awful realization that he’s colorblind, dad’s shame and near-panic after the meeting with his “publisher.” So far so good. At the same time, though, we’re supposed to accept that these characters, whom we presumably care about as actual human beings, are going to steal grandpa’s dead body out the hospital window? Granted, that’s a funny scene, but we have to jump up to a far more detached level of appreciation for that kind of schtick to work. The film kept see-sawing on how deeply involved with the characters we are. Basically, there are a lot of scenes that attempt to set the cast up as real, believable individuals, and then there are a lot of scenes that casually throw that trust away in the service of cheap and easy gags. Arkin’s character, for example, was funny with his profane mouth and loud opinions, but I didn’t believe for a moment that he was a heroin junkie. The beauty pageant for little girls is ripe comic ground, but (a) it’s a satire-target that’s been done over and over, and (b) again, I simply didn’t believe that these characters would jump up on stage and steal the show that way. There’s a common notion in bad movies that love and a roadtrip is all it takes to cure someone of neurosis. The high-school brother has his little fit of angst, but then a conversation with Steve Carell helps him feel again, and presto, this until-recently anxiety-riddled kid realizes his love for his family, breaks out of his shell, learns to live a little, wakes up and smells the coffee, and all that stuff. I just couldn’t buy it. As others have stated, the cast was uniformly terrific. But the writing was as lame as a “Facts of Life” episode. No offense to those who liked it; but it felt contrived and unconvincing to me.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/16 "2006-09-18T12:01:37Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] So, **Trunk** , have you seen it yet? It’s currently playing at The Charles, and i’m going to try and get along to see it this week. It got an excellent review in the _New Yorker_ recently. And i love Toni Collette. [/QUOTE] Yes, I saw it at The Charles. They had been playing it on two screens. Don’t know if they still are. I talked about it in another thread. I found it totally funny. Loved the cast. The last 10 minutes, the theater was – almost – literally rolling in the aisles. (not to hype it too much). I could see where **jackelope** is coming from. It’s the kind of movie where if you don’t click with the tone of it from the start – if you don’t see it kind of like a fantasy world – it’s not going to work for you. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/17 "2006-09-18T13:53:01Z")
Wif and I thoroughly enjoyed the film a couple weeks back. She asked if she was laughing too loudly. (My objection was that in so many cases the laugh lines were followed immediately with dialogue, which I missed. Will rent it when it comes out.) My favorite was the incredibly smarmy contest emcee. And my favorite line: Where is your grandpa? In the trunk of our car. I don’t know that it is a “timeless classic.” Not sure what films I think are. But for my $ it was definitely worth seeing. ---
**Author:** ![Balduran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Balduran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balduran)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/18 "2006-09-18T14:02:08Z")
I really liked it too, and I normally don’t like the whole quirky-dysfunctional people genre. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/19 "2006-09-18T14:25:24Z")
For years I’ve had this quote-a-day “Zen” calendar, but the only quote I’ve kept permanently taped to the fridge is this: “We do not receive wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can make for us, which no one else can spare us…” — Marcel Proust “Little Miss Sunshine” touched a chord in me that expresses this so poignantly – it made me think of all the times I’ve screwed up over the years, but that there was no ther way. I don’t know if I’ll ever get around to reading more than a few pages of Proust, but seeing the film brought the main message home in a powerful way – surprising for a supposedly mere “quirky comedy”. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321/20 "2006-09-18T15:06:26Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] I could see where **jackelope** is coming from. It’s the kind of movie where if you don’t click with the tone of it from the start – if you don’t see it kind of like a fantasy world – it’s not going to work for you. [/QUOTE] I guess so. It’s not the first movie to ask the audience to suspend belief for awhile. Perhaps **jackelope** is the sort of person who would scoff at Roadrunner cartoons because a coyote couldn’t possible use mail order. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-miss-sunshine-on-your-radar/365321.md?page=2)