This was a great little Indie movie, it was hilariously funny and heart wrenchingly cold sometimes. It has the most wonderful ensemble cast since Crash, with 7 year old Abigail Breslin (who played Little Boo, in M.Night’s Signs) leading the pack. I like simple stories which moves the story forward with smart dialogues, stellar acting and well written scenes, so I was in for a treat. It starts with a cliched, often overused, dysfunctional family… I started to roll my eyes looking for an exit - then the movie introduced Greg Kinner - one of the finest actors I’ve ever seen, talking about what appeared to be a pyramid scheme - mmm, juicy! Then the next 100mins was sheer magic. The adorable fat lil’ cutiepie Olive, who just was chosen as a finalist in ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ contest. To participate in the finals, the family, with all its inbuilt conflicts (whats a movie without conflicts?:), agrees to embark on a roadtrip to Los Angeles from Albuquerque (786 miles) on a beaten VW mini bus. The family consist of:

1. Dad - Professional Motivational Speaker (Greg Kinner)
2. Mom - Frustrated Nagging Housewife
3. Bro - Who is on a vow of silence for the last 9 months.
4. Grandpa - Foul mouthed Cocaine sniffer
5. Uncle - Suicidal Gay scholar (Steve Corell)
6. Vehicle - a yellow VW minibus
7. and … the darling of the movie, Olive - a beauty contest wannabee.

A triangular bounce off between conservative Dad, gay Uncle and neurotic Grandpa keeps us engaged without yelling "Are we there yet? are we there yet?". One struggle after another leads to a mildly shocking+amusing finale. Truth be told, the destination wasn’t half as much fun as the journey itself. First time directors Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris, have handled the material very un-music-video-ish, given that they come from a Music Video background. Granted, the material did not lend itself to MTV style of editing, but they did show tremendous restraint in letting the actors performance move the story forward. Yesterday was the premier of the movie - so they made a special appearance after the movie, so we were able to shoot off our questions to them. I asked "How did u divide up the responsibilities as a Director" They said in unison "We never contradict each other, we plan ahead and work as one - Thats secret of our marriage" … and the movie, I might add. Must see.

(Releasing on Aug 4th 2006)

5/5

Update - Jan 2007: It has been nominated for an Oscan in ‘Best Film’ & ‘Best Screenplay’ Listen to the writers interview