Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

I figured I'd end this month's millennial comedy theme with a classy comedy. Classy comedies are pretty hard to find nowadays with most of the early 2000s being dominated by raunchy frat boy humor with plenty of sex and drugs and violence, but, amid the chaos of the Will Ferrells and Ben Stillers of the world, every now and then you'll find something that is pretty special.

Little Miss Sunshine definitely fits that description. Not only is it dark and quirky and well written and well acted...it's damn funny, too.

If you're not familiar with the plot, here it is in a nutshell: a quirky family who basically hate each other drive a busted VW bus from New Mexico to California for the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. The members of the family include a suicidal and homosexual uncle (Steve Carrell in the best role he'll ever perform), an unsuccessful self-help guru father (the always reliable Greg Kinnear), a teenage boy who has taken a vow of silence as part of his obsession with the philosopher Nietzsche (the amazing Paul Dano), a heroin-addicted grandfather (the stupendous Alan Arkin), a little girl who is naturally cheerful and totally immune to her family's insanity (Abigail Breslin in a tiny fat suit), and the mother (the serviceable Toni Collette) who is just trying to keep her family together.

The cast is the reason this movie works. Wow. Steve Carrell actually acts in this one. You're not going to see his usual zany antics (he is supposed to be suicidal and depressed after all). Alan Arkin is always amazing and it's no different in this one as the drug-addicted, yet lovable grandfather (although there was a moment when I thought he was raping Abigail but I think that would have taken things to a dark place...).

The real breakout star of this flick, however, is the totally underrated Paul Dano. Anyone who has seen There Will Be Blood knows exactly what I'm talking about. Paul Dano is the new Daniel Day-Lewis. Try...TRY not to lose yourself in the moment when Dwayne realizes he's colorblind and he's not going to get to be a fighter jet pilot and finally breaks his vow of silence by TOTALLY TWEAKING THE FUCK OUT in a cinematic moment that Dano just absolutely acts the shit out of. Damn is he good!

There are certain movies, though, that are great because they contain a cinematic moment (think the diner scene in When Harry Met Sally). This movie contains one of those moments. Many movies build and build and build to that final scene and that scene totally and utterly fails to deliver the goods. LMS, however, contains one of the single greatest end scenes ever filmed by man. When the entire family storms the stage during the beauty pageant and starts dancing to Rick James's Superfreak I absolutely lost it. I had tears streaming down my face in the theater. It is a moment that is so hilarious, so sweet and touching, yet creative and fun that it easily cracks my top ten list of greatest scenes in cinema. I've included it below simply because it would be a crime not to.

Although I love the insanity and quotability of some of the zanier comedies of the New Millennium, Little Miss Sunshine is easily my favorite comedy of the decade. Plus it introduced me to Nietzsche so for that I am forever grateful.

Why It's Awesome: Few movies allow you to totally dislike the characters at the beginning of the film and absolutely love, not just a few or some of them, but all of them. Really that's just great writing. RESPECT!

Best Quote:

Dwayne: You know what? Fuck beauty contests. Life is one fucking beauty contest after another. School, then college, then work... Fuck that. And fuck the Air Force Academy. If I want to fly, I'll find a way to fly. You do what you love, and fuck the rest.