An extremely close friend of mine sits upon his bed, half stoned, half asleep. We talk about everything and anything that comes to mind and sooner than later, we arrive at the topic of must-see movies in town. Living in Colaba,the best site for Mumbai's bargain shopping, access to cheap DVDs lies a stone's throw away, so count on him to have known it all. His beady eyes light up as begins to narrate the plot of "Little Miss Sunshine" and soon the intoxicated lull erupts into a hysterically animated story telling session.
"The grandfather.. oh man! is he funny! he dies and they put him in the trunk with pornographic magazines thrown over the sheet that covers him... and the dumb cop doesnt even see him."
"Oh! and the son doesnt talk.. he's taken a vow of silence until he gets into flight academy and hates everybody"
"The sister only cares about her beauty peagant and rehearses day and night. You have to watch it man!!"
Before I knew it, I realized watching the movie might be useless as he couldnt help but tell me the entire story...actions and all!! A week later my friend passed away and all that was running through my mind was how happy the movie made him.
I watched the 2006 release, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and true to my friend's word... it was hilariously moving! The story about an emotionally fractured family echoed plotlines of "American Beauty" but avoids the tragic end to culminate in the joy and importance of family, however extended and demented they maybe. In the role that won him the Oscar this year, Alan Arkin's brief yet unforgettable role as the coke snorting, porn viewing, war-reminiscing Grandpa manages to tickle everybody's funny bone. Toni Collete and Greg Kinnear make it extremely easy for audiences to lap up a shockingly realistic marriage secrets and oppositions included, never once making you want to vomit or roll eyes. Steve Carell takes on a what begins as an extremely morbid role, disturbed and depressed but eventually turns into his characteristic sympathetic comedy that appeals to any close knit family as gradually the borders of comfort and love are highlighted.
The constant pressure to be nothing less than perfect and always emerge victorious is one that most children today can relate to with ease. As Richard Hoover shoves insane amounts of the " win-win-win" ,9 step strategy to success down his family's throats, the ironical failure to launch his own career as a motivational speaker gently caresses emotional chords of the viewers. Olive(Abigail Breslin), the young enthusiastic, innocent daughter, is smeared across a hostile background of beauty pageants that culminate in a ghastly Californian show of horrific, young girls doused in make up and artifice. Dwayne,played by Paul Dano is the Nietzche disciple under a vow of silence until he becomes an Air-Force pilot, the only thing he seems to love in the traumatizing world of adolescence, other than his younger sister. According to some critics the Hoovers' road trip to California vaguely resembles that made by the Joads in "Grapes of Wrath", but the crucial difference with the middle class Hoovers' is that the journey exposes familial problems that are addressed along the way only to emphasize the importance of Blood over the rest. It begins with the macrocosmic realm of flailing marriages, occupational stress,homosexuality, childhood dilemmas such as fitting in with societal norms and meeting expectations with the Arkin representing the futility of all of the above as he regrets having wasted his life trying to find solutions to such problems. As the family inches( literally) towards California in a dysfunctional Volkswagon bus, the story begins to focus on the microscopic issues that humourously address larger topics that are lucratively tied in, so that the unsuspecting viewer sees this not as a didactic ,know-it-all, happy-go-lucky flick but as a genuinely, touching film.
In fact there reaches a point in the film where one has absolutely no hope for a family that forgets their youngest member at a gas station and has to run beside the vehical only to jump headfirst into the car with a broken clutch but Faris and Dayton tastefully blend in sensitive moments of honest words of wisdom and encouragement to continue to fight against all that stands in their way and at one point, that includes hospital staff and law officers, to see the light of true, unfiltered happiness.
I don't intent on spoiling the watching experience any more than I already have, but this truly in one movie that holds a special place in my heart. It not only chronicles the emotional rollercoaster ride every family experiences but also keeps the memory of my eternally happy, ever smiling friend vivid and bookmarked for life.
"The grandfather.. oh man! is he funny! he dies and they put him in the trunk with pornographic magazines thrown over the sheet that covers him... and the dumb cop doesnt even see him."
"Oh! and the son doesnt talk.. he's taken a vow of silence until he gets into flight academy and hates everybody"
"The sister only cares about her beauty peagant and rehearses day and night. You have to watch it man!!"
Before I knew it, I realized watching the movie might be useless as he couldnt help but tell me the entire story...actions and all!! A week later my friend passed away and all that was running through my mind was how happy the movie made him.
I watched the 2006 release, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and true to my friend's word... it was hilariously moving! The story about an emotionally fractured family echoed plotlines of "American Beauty" but avoids the tragic end to culminate in the joy and importance of family, however extended and demented they maybe. In the role that won him the Oscar this year, Alan Arkin's brief yet unforgettable role as the coke snorting, porn viewing, war-reminiscing Grandpa manages to tickle everybody's funny bone. Toni Collete and Greg Kinnear make it extremely easy for audiences to lap up a shockingly realistic marriage secrets and oppositions included, never once making you want to vomit or roll eyes. Steve Carell takes on a what begins as an extremely morbid role, disturbed and depressed but eventually turns into his characteristic sympathetic comedy that appeals to any close knit family as gradually the borders of comfort and love are highlighted.
The constant pressure to be nothing less than perfect and always emerge victorious is one that most children today can relate to with ease. As Richard Hoover shoves insane amounts of the " win-win-win" ,9 step strategy to success down his family's throats, the ironical failure to launch his own career as a motivational speaker gently caresses emotional chords of the viewers. Olive(Abigail Breslin), the young enthusiastic, innocent daughter, is smeared across a hostile background of beauty pageants that culminate in a ghastly Californian show of horrific, young girls doused in make up and artifice. Dwayne,played by Paul Dano is the Nietzche disciple under a vow of silence until he becomes an Air-Force pilot, the only thing he seems to love in the traumatizing world of adolescence, other than his younger sister. According to some critics the Hoovers' road trip to California vaguely resembles that made by the Joads in "Grapes of Wrath", but the crucial difference with the middle class Hoovers' is that the journey exposes familial problems that are addressed along the way only to emphasize the importance of Blood over the rest. It begins with the macrocosmic realm of flailing marriages, occupational stress,homosexuality, childhood dilemmas such as fitting in with societal norms and meeting expectations with the Arkin representing the futility of all of the above as he regrets having wasted his life trying to find solutions to such problems. As the family inches( literally) towards California in a dysfunctional Volkswagon bus, the story begins to focus on the microscopic issues that humourously address larger topics that are lucratively tied in, so that the unsuspecting viewer sees this not as a didactic ,know-it-all, happy-go-lucky flick but as a genuinely, touching film.
In fact there reaches a point in the film where one has absolutely no hope for a family that forgets their youngest member at a gas station and has to run beside the vehical only to jump headfirst into the car with a broken clutch but Faris and Dayton tastefully blend in sensitive moments of honest words of wisdom and encouragement to continue to fight against all that stands in their way and at one point, that includes hospital staff and law officers, to see the light of true, unfiltered happiness.
I don't intent on spoiling the watching experience any more than I already have, but this truly in one movie that holds a special place in my heart. It not only chronicles the emotional rollercoaster ride every family experiences but also keeps the memory of my eternally happy, ever smiling friend vivid and bookmarked for life.
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