Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer

Toni Collette (left), Abigail Breslin (second left), Alan Arkin (third left), Paul Dano (third right), Steve Carell (second right) and Greg Kinnear on the road in 'Little Miss Sunshine'. - Contributed

Little Miss Sunshine snaps, crackles and pops with a fantastic blend of the silly and the brilliant. The movie is one bright comedy that hinges on interesting characters, a wry, witty sense of humour and an eye for the caustically comedic.

Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Farris and written by Michael Arndt, Little Miss Sunshine falls into the family road trip sub-genre. Fortunately, there is nothing typical about this flick, which brims with originality as a family makes desperate attempts to get their daughter cross-country and into the Little Miss Sunshine competition.

Little Miss Sunshine is a film about character, character and more character. Then it mixes in touches of slapstick humour that one associates with road-trip movies, creating a bright, fluffy blend with sustenance. It manages to capture the many-headed monsters rampaging across the American pop-culture landscape

The fantastic cadre of characters includes seven-year-old Olive (Abigail Breslin), whose yearning to be on the beauty pageant circuit may well lead her to a life of battered self-esteem in a desperate pursuit of perfection that only exists beneath the surgeon's knife or in Adobe Photoshop.

Over-fluffed girls

Though the family's goal is to get Olive to her dream, the flick also manages to show the unflinching horror of these little girl competitions where the little girls are over-fluffed, layered in make-up and apparently spray-painted to look like junior Barbie dolls.

Greg Kinnear plays Olive's father Richard, a man whose goal is to join the ranks of the self-help gurus. He walks this path without realising the possible damage he is doing to his children by trying to squeeze them into his idea of being a winner (not to mention how annoying it makes him). In its own way the flick therefore mocks the country's addiction to being told how to live one's life and achieve success.

Their older child, Dwayne, played by Paul Danno, has given up speech until he can reach his goal of flying jets. Dwayne hates his family and is convinced that he is living in hell itself. The family is rounded out by an eccentric grandfather (Alan Arkin), a desperate mother, Sheryl (Toni Collette), who may not have time to prepare a decent meal but she tries, and Frank (Steve Carell), who is recovering from attempted suicide.

The film uses a cast of largely seasoned actors who are great at playing full-bodied roles. Collette is one of those actresses who is creating a great career despite all the Hollywood conventions. She is no starlet but one usually gets solid, moving performances from her. Kinnear has come a long way from his days on Talk Soup while Steve Carrell's star is on the rise given the success of the American version of The Office.

Little Miss Sunshine manages to show the dark, cloudy mundanity that grips sub-urban America, while also presenting the glistening silver lining that comes through having a loving family (even when you hate them). As such, in its own way, the movie manages to proffer a ray of hope without being overly bright in its outlook..

And yet, it is dazzling.