July 28, 2006

Little Miss Sunshine

This comedy opened in major cities on Wednesday, and will be rolling out throughout the country, I'm quite sure, because it's hard to believe it won't be a huge hit on the Indy circuit. I saw it today and pretty much agreed with most of the critics, whose take runs along these lines:

"The characters in the Sundance hit Little Miss Sunshine are so adeptly drawn -- and superbly played -- that you can easily forgive the film's sometimes forced kookiness."

-- Glenn Whipp, LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS

Yes, at times the kookiness is forced, but nowhere near as much as films like The Royal Tennenbaums or The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Occasionally, an incidental character is patronized, but the general mood is affectionate, despite some lapses.

I was talking with a friend the other day about the lack of superstars who can carry a movie by the sheer force of their charisma. But the flip side is that there are so many contemporary actresses who can anchor a film with effortless ease, often character actors in the guise of leading ladies. Toni Colette is one of these actresses. She'll never be "bankable" as Julia Roberts, but like Patricia Clarkson and Joan Allen, it's hard to find a false note in any of her performances. Here, she plays an occasionally hostile, almost always brittle wife and mother. Yet you care about her instantly.

Actually, all the performances in Sunshine are strong, including a career best from Greg Kinnear, pitch-perfect seriocomic turns by Steve Carrell and Alan Arkin, and crucially effective turns by Paul Dano and Abigail Breslin, as the two children of a dysfunctional family.

Lots of laughs in Little Miss Sunshine.