Little Miss Sunshine: a Film

 

    There are so many ways to escape from reality, for me, it's watching a film. Back then, I could watch 3 different films in a day. What a bad habit huh? But now, before I watch a movie, I tend to make sure the value that it has. When I say "value" it doesn't mean that it has to be motivational or historical or documentary film or such, it means something that can really entertain me as long as the movie is playing. 

    

    I chose Little Miss Sunshine to watch this week. A very delightful film, I might say. Looking at the poster above, you might see this as a typical family trip movie in which they run out of gas in the middle of the road and face certain problems. Well, the "certain problems" part is true, but it actually is a tragicomedy film about a dysfunctional family who drives from Albuquerque to California just to support their daughter in attending a beauty pageant contest called "Little Miss Sunshine".

    Sheryl is a housewife and a mother of two. Sheryl's husband, Richard, is a motivational speaker, a life coach who likes winning and hates losing. Sheryl has a son from her previous marriage, Dwyane, Nietzcshe reader who vowed to not speak until he gets permission to become a fighter pilot. Frank, Sheryl's brother, a Proust scholar who is living with the family after he attempted suicide. Olive, the youngest, with Edwin his heroin-addicted grandpa as her coach, determines to win a beauty pageant contest.

    With an aging yellow Volkswagen van, they go on an 800-mile road trip to Redondo Beach, California. Along with the van's mechanical problem, certain obstacles play out amidst their trip. They must push the van until it hits 20 mph before it could possibly move. Not only that, the van's horn unceasingly honks and attracts a state trooper to pull them over.

                                     

                                            

    On the way to California, numerous misfortunes hit them only to get wind of the fact that they really need each other's support. Richard fails to grasp his important contract of motivational business. Edwin dies as a result of heroin overdose. Frank runs into his ex-partner who left him for a school foe.  Dwyane finds out that he is color-blind and breaks down knowing that he can't go to the Air Force Academy. But somehow, it still brings them to California, thank god.

    

    When they arrive at Redondo Beach, where the beauty pageant contest takes place, they see that most of the contestants are slim pre-teen girls with flaring styles. Later on, Frank and Dwyane face a moral crisis and ask Sheryl to try to talk the amateur Olive out of performing, avoiding any humiliation that might occur to her. But Sheryl's response is "Let Olive be Olive."

    Olive's stage offers her gauche dance to Rick James's "Super Freak." The audience and organizers demand her to be removed from the stage, but the family jumps onto the stage and dances with her instead to show her support. Despite this, Olive ultimately fails. However, the road trip, which offers no ease from the very start, teaches them all resilience.

    

    The unwasted 1.5 hours took me on a roller-coaster of emotions, bursting with moments of joy and sorrow. This film is both light and meaningful, effortlessly balancing comedy and dark humor to make it an easy watch. Big applause for the outstanding performances by the cast, whose portrayals were immensely realistic and true to their characters. The cinematography, music, script—everything about this film is chef's kiss. It imparted valuable lessons about the nature of failure, showing how the characters accept their losses, their situations, and themselves despite their dysfunctionality. It is their suffering that shapes who they are. 

11/10, a must watch.