This is one of my favorite films that I watched during the pandemic beginning last year. It’s one of those most endearing films that I have seen in a long time. Every now and then I see the film referenced in numerous ways. Such as having a spoof moment in the film Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa. Besides that, there’s so much heart in the film that it really struck a chord for me, which is rare for any film to do that nowadays. SPOILERS will appear in the review.
1. A Family Story
Just by looking at the cover of the DVD it has everyone running and pushing a yellow VW van. It has Olive looking at an old Miss America pageant video to get the right reaction to winning the title. Her mother Sheryl picks up her suicidal brother Frank from the hospital. In between that, Richard the husband is presenting in a seminar emphasizing the idea of winning is better than losing. Sheryl and Richard have a rebellious son Dwayne, who has taken upon himself to be mute since he wants to be a pilot in the Air Force.
Helping Olive with her dance routine in the pageant is her grandpa Edwin. We don’t see what they are practicing, but when you see it being performed is the best part in the movie. Anyways, Olive gets word that she gets to compete in the Little Miss Sunshine Pageant in California. The family adjust as to how they are going to do the trek. Due to Sheryl having to keep Frank from killing himself and Richard attempting to call his book agent about his book on his motivation philosophy.
This is one of the those films where there’s never a slow moment to be wasted. The best part is when they are riding in the hunk of junk Volkswagen van and just trying to get to California. No one wants to be there, but they have to suck up their pride to support Olive. Most of the characters are giving a whole lot of depth despite the fact that the film is clocking in at 1 hour and 45 minutes. It would’ve been one thing where the family are just one dimensional, but the film succeeds by having the most realistic portrayal of a dysfunctional family. Since one would think that they’ll be trailer trash. This isn’t the case since it’s implied that they are barely hanging on. Hoping to have the husband have a successful book career.
2. Success in Failure
Aside from the family aspect of the film which is the highlight, another piece to the film is the idea of being okay to fail. At the beginning when Richard is giving a lecture, he stresses that the way to be a winner is to not be a loser. He hangs on to that tenet throughout the film, even talking about it with Olive by instilling a sense of positivity that she has to have a winner’s edge to win the pageant.
As the film continues or just stressed that everyone in the cast has failed. Sheryl is a divorced wife, Frank is a suicidal would-be Shakespeare scholar, Rich is an ambitious motivational speaker who is out of his league. Edwin is a narcotics user. The moment when Olive is testing Dwayne’s eyesight by giving him a color test is the saddest scene and the film’s best moment. It’s established that Dwayne has taken an oath of silence until he becomes a pilot. When he struggles with an eye color test, Frank breaks it to him that he can’t fly. What proceeds to happen is the most gut-wrenching moment in any film that I have seen.
He bangs on the van until Richard pulls over. Dwayne screams out and cries. You have to feel sorry since he honestly wanted to be a pilot. All that silence and reading about Nietzsche was for nothing. The very fact that the film is mostly about failure is endearing since the message is that its okay to fail. I mentioned before in my Nightmare Before Christmas review that the musical was about being okay to fail. This film is exactly like that and it embraces it.
Olive is the only one who has no shame when we are confronted with shots of little girls being dolled up for the pageant. Her youthfulness and positive attitude propel her to perform the routine she and Edwin had practiced. The most satisfying part is that her family joins in on her dance recital. All of that constant barrage of failure is uplifted when Olive is just having fun.
3. The Hypocrisy of Pageants
I feel that it’s one thing to bring up the idea of beauty pageants as the ultimate representative of winners and losers in the film. Olive gets in only because a contestant was disqualified due to her using diet pills to better her figure. The little girl is reminded by her Dad that skinny girls win the pageant when the family is in the diner eating. The rest of the family cheer her up by tempting her to eat ice cream when they eat it.
The whole clash of ideas is interesting since it’s common knowledge that any stubborn parent is willing to parade their daughter to look skimpy and dolled up to win a trophy that doesn’t mean anything. When Olive performs, every single parent is shocked to the point that they clutch their hypothetical pearls. I feel it’s a subversion since it’s on point that Olive does her routine since the pageant is built like that to be very evocative.
4. Overall
Without a doubt and I can repeat myself so much that I love this film. Little Miss Sunshine is one of those studio indie films that is easily on my definitive top ten. It’s an endearing story about family and coming to terms with the reality that they’re not perfect. And that being a failure is okay. I was laughing and feeling sorry and it’s one of those films that is a sure-fire way to have anyone emote in any emotion.
Little Miss Sunshine gets a five out of five.
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