"Little Miss Sunshine"

 I saw this movie in theatres when it came out, in 2006. I thought it was a decent movie at the time, and in recent days, I have purchased it on Amazon Prime Video. I saw it a couple more times. I have a feeling it's trying to be a comedy, but I barely laughed.

The most interesting character is Frank Ginsburg, who is the brother of the main female lead, who is gay and a well-known Proust scholar. He says some interesting things. I recall a conversation he has with Dwayne (the son) on a pier in California where he mentions that the years in which we suffer are also the years in which we grow. Apparently Marcel Proust had this realization at the end of his life, learning that he learned the most during his "worst" years.

Dwayne absorbs this wisdom. I appreciate that Frank shared it. I like almost all the characters in the movie. Richard, the father, shows enormous persistence in pursuing his dream of being a motivational speaker and author. I found it entertaining when he leaves the hotel at night to travel to Scottsdale to seek out Stan Grossman to find out once and for all what is happening with his "motivational career". The scene where Stan bursts Richard's bubble and tells him that his idea isn't going anywhere is a good one. Stan, played by Bryan Cranston, is so direct I found the encounter between the two characters quite satisfying.

The movie is full of memorable scenes and although it didn't quite achieve being a comedy, or making me laugh, it was good standing on its own laurels. I wish we had some sort of resolution after the final scenes at the beauty pageant, regarding Richard's bankruptcy or even Frank's situation regarding his homosexual crush or career. Nothing was really wrapped up in this regard - it seemed the purpose of the movie was to get Olive to Little Sunshine Sunshine and to end after this objective was over.

Overall, the movie was good enough to watch several times and keep me interested, and the continuity was good. I have been sick for the past week so I have needed something to keep me entertained while resting. For some reason I haven't been able to concentrate on reading that well with this cold, so a movie was a good substitute.