LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

By Harvey Tobkes

‘Endearing lunacy’ is how I would describe the plot of this wonderful movie. Go see it, and laugh and cry, but don’t overlook the message and the depth of what this movie has to say. We watched a dysfunctional, but loyal family of 6 people, trek from Albuquerque to California in order to enter the 7-year-old precocious, dumpling, daughter in a child beauty pageant. Alan Arkin plays the role of a curmudgeonly, crusty, ill tempered, grandfather, who loves using the F word. The actors are a perfectly cast ensemble…they all have tribulations and have to face up to life’s problems, but through thick and thin, they stick together…and I could identify with that.

In short, the movie is a social microcosm about hope and despair, losers and winners; a line I liked was….“Losers are losers because they feel they cannot win and have a deep fear of losing, so they do not even try to win.” Many wise people have said that in many different ways, but they all apply.

After viewing this film, I’m becoming a believer in the old axiom…95% of all families are dysfunctional and the other 5% lie about it.