Little Miss Sunshine

Essentially an updated version of National Lampoon's Vacation, but funnier and more winning, Little Miss Sunshineputs a brilliantly fresh spin on the story of a family's long road trip. At the center of the tale is a pudgy, bespectacled seven-year-old named Olive Hoover (Abigail Breslin), whose dysfunctional family drives from Albuquerque to California so she can compete in a children's beauty pageant. The travelers include her failed motivational speaker father (Greg Kinnear); supportive mom (Toni Collette); smoldering older teen brother (Paul Dano), who refuses to speak to anybody; irascible grandfather (Alan Arkin); and gay suicidal uncle (Steve Carell). Not surprisingly, a number of scorpions-in-a-bottle battles erupt when they're all forced to cram into a broken-down van for the drive, embarking on a journey that is filled with comic disasters and poignant interludes. Thanks to a witty and insightful script, deft direction by husband/wife filmmakers Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, and a cast without a weak link, viewers will enjoy spending time with the Hoovers, and will probably glimpse a bit of their own families in the characters. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. [Note: DVD extras include both widescreen and full screen versions on the same disc, two audio commentaries (one by filmmakers Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris; the other by Dayton, Faris, and screenwriter Michael Arndt), four alternate endings with optional commentary (5 min.), the music video “Till the End of Time” performed by DeVotchKa, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a winning film.] (F. Swietek)[Blu-ray Review—Feb. 19, 2009—Fox, 102 min., R, $34.98—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2006's Little Miss Sunshine looks great and features a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. Blu-ray extras ported over from the DVD release include two audio commentaries (one by filmmakers Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris; the other by Dayton, Faris, and screenwriter Michael Arndt), four alternate endings with optional commentary (5 min.), and the music video “Till the End of Time” by DeVotchKa. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are 26 minutes of webisodes, the production featurettes “On the Road with the Hoovers” (19 min.), “Who Are the Hoovers” (18 min.), and “No One Gets Left Behind: The Music” (11 min.), eight minutes of deleted scenes, a “We're Gonna Make It…”session with DeVotchKa and composer Mychael Danna (3 min.), a brief “Do You Wanna Talk?” gag scene, and trailers. Bottom line: the little comedy that could makes a fine debut on Blu-ray with solid new bonus content.]