SUMMER MOVIE CHALLENGE! Day 3

DAY 3
(Careful for spoilers)

Today's movie is from 2006. It has a cute little girl and a van. Do you know what it is? Why its Little miss sunshine of coarse!

Once again another oscar movie... and once again im surprised. Interesting enough the most famous members of the cast are Young, Middle, and Old. Young-abigail breslin middle- Greg Kinnear and old- Alan Arkin. Yes Steve carrol is in the movie but his character could honestly have been written out. I did enjoy his performance as a suicidal homosexual genius but he was more support for Olive(abigail) then anything.

Memorable scenes/characters-

 
#1 The introduction. Coming into the movie, unknowingly that it was about the family, the movie starts with a young girl with ambitious dreams of being a beauty queen ( specially "little miss sunshine"). That is what we all knew the movie was about, but then the directors introduce each member of the family apart from one another. A druggy, a failure, a teenagers, these make olives life seem harsh. Bg allowing us to see they each member has their own struggles we know that this movie will have lire changing events.
Greg kennear is a motivational speaker who cant get ahead. Alan arkin is a angry drug addict and the brother and mom (no name actors) struggle with keeping the family together. I liked how they introduced characters Becuz it set the tone of the movie. It was not about the girl...it was about the family.

#2 The brother. Idk who this guy is, but he was one of the best characters. He takes a vow of silence intill he has achieved his goal of being an air fighter pilot, Which creates comedy throughout becuz of his well timed written mute messages. Another aspect of him is that he gives off the loving brother vibe. He is a gentle spirit who care for his sister, but he isnt supportive of her dream becuz of the stigma that "she not pretty." In the end there is an event which gives him a realization that the world isnt about going after your goals, its living in the moment and enjoying the journey till you have reached your goal.

#3 Greg Kinnear
He literally was born for this role. He is HARDCORE playing a dad role. Which suits him. He can be passionate, Loving, Protective, and dorky. He actually wears his flip phone on the outside of his belt! Total dork! But hey it was the role he was meant to play. As we can all recall another role he played he was the dork dad in Anchorman 2 as Vernonia's next husband with telepathic powers. Overall he was a great actor and a good character to guide a young girl to her dream.

Where it succeeds
Comedy+drama. This movie addressed the struggle of life and family. But in a light hearted way. There is a dinner scene where the family is ordering meals and olive wants waffles and alomode! ( and who wouldn't) well dad, being the dick he isn informs her that ice cream is not good for a pageant girl, which depresses her. luckily the rest of the family disagreed and tricked her into eating her ice cream. To top off that dreadful message about dieting young, our favorite brother blows a straw wrapper into dads face which was just prefect timing! (Loved that scene)

This movie also warms your heart. Remember that drug loving grandpa? well he has a second love, Olive. No matter what you think about grandpa, he always wants to make
Olive shine. He trains her to dance at the pageant and he is the first one to say  " eat your ice cream." He was te one character you wanted to see at the end of the film, but alas he was living life to its fullest at the end and his final moments were with olive, just the way he liked it.

Little Miss Sunshine also does well in showing that you are never alone in this world. With death, failure, or any pain; having a family can get you through it. I just like that this movie was bold enough to have a child be in this chaotic world all in a matter of 3 days.

The last thing it did well is showed that true Beauty is not what you see in a pageant. The goofy girl we love even more becuz she was doing what she loved. Sure it was awkward to watch but heck she was having a blast!

Where it failed

Very few faults. Overall a solid movie. To be critical I think that there should have been more development with olives school life. She seems like a loner but we cant fully understand why a loner wants to be in the spotlight. Idk im being picky.

It also fails to make all characters important. For instance steve carrol as the uncle was not NEEDED he was nice to have and helped other scenes make more sense ( pushing the van) but other than those he can be written out. Also the mom was there filling the family unit( mom, dad, child) not any significant role other wise.

(If you read this far) Bryan Cranston is in this! Breaking bad fans rejoice! His first serious role after malcom in the middle.

Oddities
I kid you not! In the pageant scene there is a fat woman who looks just like mama from honeybooboo.

This movie is national lampoons family vacation. Follow me here. There is the stand family with elderly person. There is a road trip to California. Someone/something dies. The father thinks he knows best. There is an odd uncle. The vehicle of transport is iconic and breaks down. lastly the family is closer for this adventure.

Final verdict:
This film was good. Not great. Not bad.  But good. It didnt leave me with alot of questions it didnt require me to watch it again to fill in blanks. It was just a solid movie. I give it a 8.5/10. Rewatchability ehhh. I recommend renting before buying. Without a doubt you will enjoy this lighthearted drama about family, but do you want to own it? Thats not my place to say...

(Feel free to leave suggestions for future reviews and comments to improve the choppy rants)