Little Miss Sunshine
So, instead of writing something about the last Berlinale film, here you have a “normal” movie review.
There is not much to say about the movie except that I agree with everybody: it’s good. The characters are most endearing, the plot is great and I actually like Greg Kinnear’s “I kind of want to punch him” face. Hahaha.
“Little Miss Sunshine” is, similar to “Once”, another one of these movies about lovely outsiders that everybody loves. When I see a movie like that, I would naturally feel very sympathetic towards those outsiders, but the way how these movies get promoted towards the mainstream audience. The truth is that an “ugly” girl like Olive is looked down upon and while we can all say “beauty pageants are evil”, we cannot overlook the fact that we too are superficial people who strive to be with the smart, the rich and the beautiful. As silly as it might sound, and perhaps it’s just a coincidence, but I have no close friend who I do not consider good-looking, even not the internet friends. Why is that?
And so, the premise of “Little Miss Sunshine” leaves a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth after watching it.
However, the film is just so much fun! Compared to many other movies I have seen, it’s just so much more enjoyable to see. Sure, the movie has its actual weaknesses, like how I find it sad that none of the characters actually got any of their problems resolved, because there was just not enough time to develop any of the characters, but I have loved how the family grew together.
That is why the ending was just so brilliant! I wanted to cry, or perhaps I did a little bit. I am wondering if this is a good criteria of whether a movie is good or not. If a film is so touching without being kitsch in any way, it automatically reaches a higher level in my esteem. In fact, many films in my ‘favorite movies list’ are those that have touched me emotionally.
By the way, being overweight can be quite beautiful, I recently read an article about overweight ballerinas in… argh, a Latin American country I forgot, and I have found those dances to be quite aesthetic. These are exceptions though, I guess. I think it’s very difficult to an overweight body in the way they did.
Finally, there is not much to add to the endless numbers of other reviews on this film. It’s just good, it really is.