Review #44: Little Miss Sunshine

Release Date: July 26th 2006
Writer: Michael Arndt
Director: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

Logline: A family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus. (IMDb)

Comedy, Drama. 101 minutes. 

Bechdel Test: Passes all 3 tests

Review

How many screenwriters get nominated for an Oscar for their first produced movie? Michael Arndt is in that club. It's no fluke either, the guy is incredibly talented. He has gone on to write for movies like Toy Story 3, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Little Miss Sunshine is peanuts compared to those big budget franchises, but it's easy to see that he is a fantastic storyteller because Little Miss Sunshine is a fantastic story.

With an all-star cast of characters, Little Miss Sunshine tells the story of one family trying to get the youngest daughter, Olive Hoover (Abigail Breslin) get to California for a beauty pageant. Along for the ride comes her overworked Mom, Sheryl (Toni Collette) and her Dad, Richard (Greg Kinnear) who is a life coach and motivator chasing a book deal. Olive's step brother Dwayne has taken a vow of silence until he can join the Air Force, a career making performance by Paul Dano. Rounding out the trip is Sheryl's brother, Frank (Steve Carell) a gay scholar who is at the bottom of a downward spiral, and Richard's Father Edwin, played by the outstanding Alan Arkin, who both antagonizes Richard with his free living philosophy and coaches Olive in her pageant. 

The effect created is this endearing train wreck of a dysfunctional family. There is so much depth to the characters and their journeys, that the superficial goal of getting to the Little Miss Sunshine Pageant is a delightful contrast. It's a little bit funny, and a little bit nostalgic with some heavy emotional punches, and memorable capers along the way.

A family road trip movie might seem predictable and tired, but Little Miss Sunshine is anything but. It's a modern feel-good movie that gives quirky indies a good name.

Portrayal of Women: While it's not necessarily the point of the film, there is definitely an interesting commentary on how gender impact's family roles. Sheryl is really the glue that keeps everyone in the family together. She is constantly being railroaded by everyone else's problems, leading to a secret smoking habit. Part of the condescension and arrogance that comes from Richard is the pressure to be the breadwinner for his family, while Sheryl has to deal with the fallout of his failures.

And then there's Olive. This sweet little girl who the audience falls in love with over the course of the movie. The moment of her walking into the beauty pageant dressing room for the first time brings such an incredible sense of levity to the film. Olive became this beacon for innocent sincerity throughout the rest of the movie, and the reality that she came to compete with these hyper-sexualized and experienced young girls is so distressing. The knee jerk reaction that the boys in the family have to pull Olive from the competition makes so much sense, and yet this is Olive's dream, these are the girls Olive idolized.

Whether that's an intentional criticism of the way young women are sexualized or just a commentary on pageants, I'm not sure. The effect is an emotional punch that resonates with the audience and brings the family closer together in the end. 

Sisterhood Moment: Olive's Superfreak superstar moment. If you don't want to dance with them, you might not have a soul. 

Rating: A crown, scepter, sash, bouquet of roses, and a standing ovation. 

IMDb - Little Miss Sunshine (7.9)

Wikipedia - Little Miss Sunshine

Rotten Tomatoes - Little Miss Sunshine (91%)

What's on TV this week?

This week in TV we have some favorites, old and new, and one classic is coming to an end. Let us know if any of these shows are in your TV queue. 

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

While The Daily Show might represent one of many late night slots that women can't break into, Jon Stewart created a show that has become a staple for human who like comedy everywhere. His late night run on the satirical news show is coming to an end in August. While a new anchor, Trevor Noah will take over the helm at The Daily Show, it certainly feels like the end of an era. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart also helped bring comediennes like Samantha Bee, Jessica Williams, and Kristen Schaal into our homes with their comedy and commentary. We hope you catch up with Jon Stewart while he's still on the air.

iZombie

For something lighter we turn to the CW. From the creator of Veronica Mars comes iZombie, a supernatural police procedural based on a comic series. iZombie is coming on the heels of popular procedural's like Forever, Castle, and Elementary which seem to have a clear agenda to show police detectives as totally useless, and random people should absolutely be out solving murders. It's wonderful to see a woman in the helm of such a franchise, as well as co-creator and executive producer Diane Ruggiero bringing more women to the writing and development. It's a fun show that takes a serious look at the life of a lonely zombie, and shows some creative crime solving.

Veep

Returning for it's 4th season is the Julia Louis-Dreyfus political comedy that I've often called the funniest show on television. For 4 seasons, Armando Iannucci has made comedy smarter, and politics sillier. The interaction between Vice President Selena Meyers (Louis-Dreyfus) and her personal aid Gary (The outstanding Tony Hale) is something that makes me laugh until I'm gasping for air. You might have seen their shtick when Julia won an Emmy for her work on Veep in 2013 and Tony Hale joined her on stage to hold her purse and whisper "you love your family" in her ear like he does in the show. Veep is really really funny.

What are you watching on TV this week?

What to see this weekend?

Spring has sprung! Are you in the mood for...

A female lead?
The Age of Adaline
Cinderella
Clouds of Sils Maria
Insurgent
The Longest Ride
Unfriended
Woman in Gold

Written by a woman?
Adult Beginners
Insurgent
Woman in Gold

Review #43: The Debt

Release Date: August 31st, 2011
Writer: Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman, and Peter Straughan
Director: John Madden

Logline: In 1965, three Mossad agents cross into East Berlin to apprehend a notorious Nazi war criminal. Thirty years later, the secrets the agents share come back to haunt them. (IMDb)
Thriller, 113 minutes
Bechdel Test: Passes all 3 tests

Review
I love a good spy movie. There aren't nearly enough of them. Give me Jason Bourne over Captain America any day.

The Debt is an American/British remake of an Israeli film. The adaptation was written by the action film duo of Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman (X-Men: First Class, Kickass) and spy film writer Peter Straughn (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.) The director John Madden has a few Oscar films under his belt, including Shakespeare in Love.

The reason I'm outlining all that information is to explain why I has such high hopes before I watched this film. When you bring together a stellar list of experienced hit-makers, you do so expecting a hit. Maybe The Debt was a success; it made it's budget back, and put Dame Helen Mirren on the poster for an action film. I'm not sure it lived up to all of my many expectations.

Sold as a tangled web of deception around a CIA operation that happened during the Cold War, The Debt has a narrative that shows what happened in the 1960's and the fallout many years later. Agent Rachel Singer, portrayed as Jessica Chastain in the 1960's and as Helen Mirren in the 1990's, was part of a three man operation to capture and bring to justice a Nazi war criminal.

Jessica Chastain and Sam Worthington in The Debt

The first half of the movie brings the audience on several spy missions that are beautifully shot and executed. There is a nail biting sequence during which the CIA operatives pose as ambulance drivers to extract their target, with the real ambulance on the way, only moments behind. Many action movies rely on technology to keep a sequence interesting, or the counting clock of a man set to watch out for the team. John Madden plays into the fear of the unknown in The Debt, reminding the audience that there is no fall back, that time is ticking and there is no way of knowing if or when the agents will be found out.

The weakness of the film, is of course the very narrative structure by which it is framed. The characters have been introduced as old men and women, so there is a bit lost in watching their younger selves in dangerous situations. We know they make it out alive. Ironically, I found the second half of the film, taking place 30 years later, to be the slowest part. While the characters are more interesting and complex, with secrets to cover up and uncertain allegiances, the action significantly drops off.

Helen Mirren in The Debt

I'm not sure I can place The Debt in the list of spy movies I really love. While there are some great scene of tense action, and gut wrenching suspense, the story itself falls off the map. With characters who swap actors, and motives that become muddled, I didn't get suspense all the way though the film.

Portrayal of Women: Before going into the movie I had a fleeting thought "how nice that they put a woman in the spy movie," for now. While she appeared to portray an important character in the trailers, I had a suspicion that her role would be undercut by some stereotypical trope.

I'm pleased to say Rachel Singer's character wasn't used as a love interest or reward, and she wasn't incompetent. She wasn't a cold, manipulative villainess either. At no point was she heroically saved by a man. Rachel Singer fought her own fights, and was the most valuable part of the CIA's mission. Her character was used for her vulnerability, and perhaps earned sympathy for being considered weaker, but I don't think that detracts from her capabilities as a woman. Her character captivated the audience, and ultimately controlled the story.

Sisterhood Moment: Rachel Singer recaps the events of the past through the book her daughter wrote about her. What a fantastic little tag to a movie about spy's, deception, and lies. Rachel Singer might be a lot of unsavory things, but she's also a mother and a hero to her child.

Rating: 3 Jason Bournes out of 5 franchises

IMDb - The Debt (6.9)
Wikipedia - The Debt
Rotten Tomatoes - The Debt (77%)