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%)

Review #34: Nanny McPhee & Nanny McPhee Returns

Release Date: January 27th, 2006 & August 20th, 2011
Writer: Emma Thompson
Director: Kirk Jones & Susanna White

Logline: Emma Thompson stars as a governess who uses magic to rein in the behavior of seven ne'er-do-well children in her charge. (Source IMDb) Family, comedy, fantasy. 97 min. & 109 min.
Bechdel Test: Both films passed all 3 tests.

Review
One part Matilda, one part Mary Poppins, and one part Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and you have a recipe for Nanny McPhee. No wonder this Emma Thompson vehicle has been such a success world wide. Not being part of the generation that grew on Nanny McPhee I cannot say whether the franchise has the same staying power as those inspirational films, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were many more McPhee's to come.

The story of both films is essentially the same, but focused on different families. In both, a single parent (Colin Firth in the first, and Maggie Gyllenhaal in the second) are overrun by their out of control children. Their families and livelyhood is threatened and they are in desperate need of help. Nanny McPhee arrives in a puff of smoke announcing that

"When you need me but do not want me, then I must stay. When you want me but no longer need me, then I have to go." 

Obviously children attempt to sabotage their new nanny, but Nanny McPhee uses her magic to give them a taste of their own medicine. As the kids lie in bed faking sick to avoid their chores for the day, she makes sure they are unable to leave their beds and take the foul tasting remedy. Silly kids, tricks are for... Nanny McPhee.

Kids are going to love any movie that doesn't speak down to children, despite the morality lessons contained. The universe is bright and textured with the wacky off-kilter look of a cartoon. There's plenty silly British wit, sight and sound gags, and a kids movie staple: slapstick comedy. It's a classic kind of kids movie.

For the parents however, these films are less than desirable. Nanny McPhee is a film that will be exhausting on repeat. The linear, step-by-step story is rigidly mechanical, and there's only so many times you can laugh at barnyard animals. If you're going to put it on for the kids, leave the room and maybe have a drink or two. Adults watching this recipe for success will weep from boredom.

Portrayal of Women: Both films feature strong supporting female characters, but in different ways.

The first film features Cedric (Firth) after the unexpected death of his wife. He is distant from his kids, and has to go on a journey to connect with them. There are two maids who are women, and there is an evil future stepmother who is attempting to get Cedric's money. Cedric's Great Aunt also insists on taking one of Cedric's girls for some sort of housewife etiquette schooling. Ultimately the good woman in Cedric's life turns out to be the young maid who had been caring for the children all along.

As great as it is to see a diverse representation of women, this collection of storybook stereotypes pin women as either the virgin or the villain. I suspect Thompson followed the original book quite closely as source material.

The second film branches away from the classic roles. Instead of a single father, it's a single mother Isabel (Gyllenhaal) who's husband has gone missing in the war. She has to stand up for her family and her rights as a property owner against her less than desirable brother. The two mobsters collecting debts are women. The owner of the shop where Isabel works is played by the great Maggie Smith. I love any film that puts a twist on traditional gender roles, even if it's relatively minor. The importance of placing women in a variety of positions, like a position of power, in any children's fiction cannot be understated.

Sisterhood Moment: Maggie Gyllenhaal's scene with Ewan McGregor. Now THAT'S a fantasy for adults. Just turn that into the opening of 50 Shades of Grey. Too much?

Rating: Two annoying kids in the movie theater with a baby.

IMDb - Nanny McPhee (6.6)
IMDb - Nanny McPhee Returns (6.0)

Wikipedia - Nanny McPhee
Wikipedia - Nanny McPhee Returns

Rotten Tomatoes - Nanny McPhee (73%)

Rotten Tomatoes - Nanny McPhee Returns (76%)

Review #24: Marie Antoinette

Release Date: October 20th, 2006
Writer: Sofia Coppola
Director: Sofia Coppola

Logline: The retelling of France's iconic but ill-fated queen, Marie Antoinette. From her betrothal and marriage to Louis XVI at 15 to her reign as queen at 19 and to the end of her reign as queen and ultimately the fall of Versailles. (Source IMDb)
Bechdel Test: Passed all three tests

Review

I cannot say I've always been a fan of Sofia Coppola's work. She tends to tell character stories about women who are trapped by social boundaries. Something that when done well is a fantastic enveloping experience, but if you're not in the mood for it, her movies can come across as artsy and storyless. I'm very excited that this blog has given us the opportunity to revisit her work as she is one of the only well known female writer/directors.

Marie Antoinette tells the fairy-tale like story of the 14 year old girl who was married into French royalty during the time of the French Revolution. You might as well forget the French Revolution part because this is only about the charmed life of a young naive queen.

Doted on by dozens at every moment, in the monumental palace of Versaille, she is spoken of, never spoken to. She is surrounded by chatter and finds her only ability to express herself and interact with others through dresses, shoes, tea, and of course, gossip. Even then, those who she is able to spend time with are those same people who spread rumors about her being an Austrian spy. Her French husband Louis XVI, portrayed by the hysterical Jason Schwartzman, has no real interest in their marriage. He is happy to continue on as if she was just another maid in the room, setting her up as a failure for her "wifely duties".

Coppola pulls the story of Antoinette out of it's historical context and makes it relevant to contemporary society by stripping away the historical story and focusing in on her experiences. Antoinette is trapped in a sexless marriage. She's being crushed by the pressure to maintain appearances. As she spends money partying, and gambling, their money begins to dry up. She is unfulfilled and falling apart. As you do in the movie, Antoinette becomes immune to the luxuries she is surrounded by and is unaware of the affect she is having on the political situation in France. She is trying to cope with the emptiness she feels in her life. I don't think Coppola had any intention in telling a historical story but instead uses the revolting French people as a physical manifestation of Antoinette's unhappiness.

With this in mind, I'm constantly surprised when a movie like this is criticised for being historically inaccurate, or not sufficiently portraying the French Revolution. That was never the story this movie was going to tell, with it's modern stylistic choices it's clear that this is supposed to be a fictionalized movie. Perhaps the words "Historical Biopic" make any movie sound like a history lesson. That concept needs to be done with in modern movie making. To insist that this film should tell another story completely negates the story this one does tell.

And the story it does tell is fantastic. Almost a modern tragedy. Marie Antoinette is dreamlike, romantic, heartbreaking, and smart. It's colorful world surrounds the senses. The experience of isolation in a sea of people is something Coppola has seemingly made a signature out of.

Portrayal of Women: To many of the movie's we watch, the portrayal of women reflects the writer's tone on women. There are often so few women, that the one's we do see become a representative for that group.

In this case, I think Coppola does the opposite. She puts the audience in the point of view of a woman, and it's a character film about her experiences. The opinion she projects on gender is really the way this character is marginalized by other characters, which is not a defining characteristic but a social construct. Antoinette herself is a person who is trying to come into her own, but cannot find a way how. Let's face it, that's the kind of representation women have been looking for in film, to be a whole character, not a flat stereotype.

Sisterhood Moment: In one of the opening scene's Marie Antoinette arrives in France and all her belongings that came from Austria are stripped away. Her clothes, her friends, and then her poor dog. Don't take the dog! That's heartbreaking.

Rating: 4 creampuffs out of 5 platters.

IMDb - Marie Antoinette (6.4)
Wikipedia - Marie Antoinette
Rotten Tomatoes - Marie Antoinette (55%)