Welcome back to another issue of Your Movie Mage, where I discuss underrated movies across genres. Last week, we discussed the beautifully shot and written “Honey Boy.” This week we’ll be talking about the better known, “Little Miss Sunshine.”
“Little Miss Sunshine” follows the dysfunctional Hoover family as they travel across the state to fulfill their young daughter’s dream of winning a beauty pageant. Through this relatively simple plot, we’re able to understand various intriguing characters, each with their own motives, aspirations, feelings and opinions. All of these characters are flawed in their own ways, but ultimately their love for one another trumps whatever beliefs they hold.
Not many movies are able to tackle the complexities of family dynamics, especially not one with so many characters, but “Little Miss Sunshine” does an amazing job. The writing and acting are incredible from everyone, including two young actors, Paul Dano as Dwayne and Abigail Breslin as Olive.
This movie covers themes such as love, marriage, suicide, body image issues, homosexuality in an unaccepting world, goals, substance abuse and family. Each theme is treated with care, approached subtly and ultimately resolved gracefully.
The approach this film took to parent-child relationships was one I’ve seen elsewhere. Dwayne is the stepson to Richard, Olive’s dad, but this fact is only mentioned briefly in passing.
The relationship between Dwayne and Richard is of great interest to me, as it’s built on subtle anger and annoyance. Richard is clearly unable to form a strong bond with his stepson, despite being in his life for some time. Dwayne is not a fan of Richard by any means, though it isn’t necessarily outright stated. Relationships like this can be incredibly complex and often go unnoticed.
We also see the parent-child dynamic through Richard, and his dad, Edwin. Both characters are finding meaning in life at different ages, with Richard’s being a very important, as he has the power to shape his children’s views on life and meaning. Ultimately, Edwin tells Richard that trying is enough. Having this older character provide such wisdom, while still being a flawed human himself, was crucial and made this film even better.
This film features some incredibly heartfelt scenes between the various characters. Each realistic resolution to longtime dynamics shows that everything will work out as long as they have the ones they love. This is delicate work, especially balanced with the establishment of tension, humor and an overall upbeat feeling.
Another way this film stands out is in its inclusion of a young character, which movies often get wrong. In this film, Olive is a young girl who’s following her heart but also her family. She’s susceptible to what she hears, mostly from her father, who pushes harmful messages to her about giving up to avoid failing. Her character is crucial to the story, as she’s the one who brings her family together. Because she is so much younger than the other characters, she still views life in a simpler way, where what’s most important is family. Though she was excited to participate in the pageant, she didn’t view it the same way as her father. She was happy to get on stage, be herself and spend time with her family along the way—no matter how dysfunctional it was.
Ultimately, viewers are left with a positive feeling. We aren’t left with unrealistic hope that life will be perfect and all our dreams will come to fruition. In fact, the movie suggests those dreams and goals will inevitably fall apart, but you’ll be okay regardless. I have a strong preference for movies like this, and “Little Miss Sunshine” is one of few that do it so well. I give this film an underratedness score of 4/5. It’s rated highly, but it’s not talked about as much as it deserves. It’s yet another lower budget film that began with a very solid base of incredible writing.