I’ve fallen way behind in my movie watching since moving but I may be getting back ino gear as I’m starting to feel settled now, at least a bit. Last night I finally got around to watching Little Miss Sunshine and I loved it.
There’s nothing fancy about this movie, it’s just a really good story really well told. The characters are all believable and intriguing and, given the performances on screen, work well together.
I think what I liked about the film was that it would have been so easy to make this the usually cranky film about a dysfunctional family and how obnoxious everyone in it is. In fact, these days I kind of roll my eyes when I hear about a film with a “dysfunctional family†because it has become such a tiresome cliché through overkill.
The film also could have gone in the direction where it could have been a sappy, cornball kind of ending drenched in sentimentality.
What is so wonderful about Little Miss Sunshine is that it manages to walk the tightwire between the two extremes and ends up with a nicely balanced and therefore effective and affecting film about fascinating, if screwed up, people.
This is film I’ll be watching many times again. If you haven’t seen it, I strongly urge you to (it’s on DVD now and has been for a few weeks). And if you’ve seen it before, you know how good it is – why not watch it again? Highly recommended.
And on another note: while it looks like I’ve been watching more contemporary films lately (somewhat true), I have older ones on the way. Actually, a lot of my DVDs of older films (Casablanca, The Thin Man, and so on) are still packed away.
However, sometime next week I have a couple of new old movies arriving. I’m waiting on Marie Antoinette (1938), starring Norma Shearer, Tyrone Power and John Barrymore (directed by W.S. Van Dyke). (I’m also looking forward to Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, starring Kirsten Dunst, due out on DVD February 13th.)
Also due to show up at my door sometime next week, John Ford’s Mogambo (1953), starring Clark Gable, Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly.
Now some people might be excited about that because it’s a John Ford film. Or because it has Clark Gable. Or even because of the cool beauty of Grace Kelly.
But I’m looking forward to it because it has Ava Gardner.
