Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

I don't remember why I was drawn to Little Miss Sunshine when I first watched —it was probably on some list featuring dark comedies—, all I know is that I ended up loving this quirky road trip indie movie, and I loved it every single other time I watched it over the years. It's quite embarrassing that I've never written about it, so here it is. 

Just in case you are not familiar with this —I'm judging you if you are not though—, the story follows the Hoovers, a dysfunctional family composed of Richard (Greg Kinnear), his wife, Sheryl (Toni Collette), his father, Edwin (Alan Arkin), his brother-in-law, Frank (Steve Carell), his step-son, Dwayne (Paul Dano), and his daughter, Olive (Abigail Breslin). When Olive qualifies for the finals of the Little Miss Sunshine pageant, the family goes on a road trip on their old Volkswagen bus to take her to the contest. 

As it happens with road trip movies, Little Miss Sunshine does not have a plot, only plenty of clichés of the genre and a series of bizarre and unlikely situations and worst case scenarios. It does, however, take some surprising and amusing twists and turn and ultimately it ends up being a quite powerful story of a family who, despite all, love each other, stick together and would do anything for each other.

The story certainly wouldn't be as effective, engaging and entertaining if it wasn't for the characters though, which is by far the aspect of Little Miss Sunshine I love the most. First, there's no main character, no one is more important than the other, and, while they share the same goal, each out of them has his/her own arc. Second, they all have a distinctive personality and quirks that make them unique and memorable —Richard is a neurotic motivational speaker who hates losers; Sheryl is a chain-smoking wife who tries to make everybody happy but she is fed up with her husband's optimistic crap; Edwin is the foul-mouthed, heroin-snorting grandfather; Frank is the depressed gay uncle who has just attempted to commit suicide because his lover left him for his rival professor; Dwayne is a moody teenager who has taken a vow of silence until he gets into the Airforce; and Olive is a little girl who is exactly the opposite of what beauty pageant encourage young girls/women to be. No matter how stereotyped they are, these characters are interesting, believable and you care about them.

Fox Searchlighting Pictures

The actors all do a fantastic job, but there still are a few standouts. While Alan Arkin is the one who won an Oscar for his sharp, sarcastic, hilarious performance as the grandpa, and Abigail Breslin got a deserved nomination as she gives a charming, full-of-heart performance and brings quite a spark to the film, Steve Carell and Paul Dano are those, in my opinion, who deserved the awards. Although unknown at the time the Little Miss Sunshine was filmed —at some point, the filmmakers weren't even sure about him because of this—, Carell proves he is more than a comedian with a serious, subtle performance as the brilliant professor; Dano, who has to rely on his body language and facial expressions only for most of the film's running time, carries the role of the troubled teenager effortlessly and delivers some of the film's most emotional and touching moments.

Ultimately, Little Miss Sunshine is a charming, dark, funny and touching film, with great jokes, memorable moments —Olive performing at the beauty pageant sure will stick with you—, and a commentary on the futility of beauty pageants.

Swiss Army Man (2016)

I first heard about Swiss Army Man when someone picked it for a Thursday Movie Picks post —I'm pretty sure it was Brittani from Rambling Film— and I added on my neverending watchlist because of the cast. 

The story follows Hank (Paul Dano), a man stranded on a deserted island who is about to kill himself as he's lost all hope. Suddenly, a dead body named Manny (Daniel Radcliffe) is washed up on the shores and, when Hank is about to try to hang himself again, the strangest thing happens, Manny starts farting. Hank soon learns that Manny can help him survive and find a way back and strikes up a friendship with him in the meantime.

What the fuck am I watching, was my first through as the plot to Swiss Army Man began to unfold. It's absurd, ridiculous and quite idiotic, to be completely honest, and yet it's creative and there's something incredibly fascinating about it. Maybe it's its uniqueness, its being so out of the box, so unusual, or maybe the fact that it's a heartwarming and humorous story of an unlikely friendship, or the social commentary the filmmakers are able to make with such a silly story as it deals with social norms, bullying as well as (self-)love, sex, death and the importance of being yourself.

It's the characters though that I loved the most about Swiss Army Man. They are brilliantly written and as a result, you truly care about them. It also helps that there's terrific chemistry between the two leads which makes the characters' relationship feel genuine, real. Paul Dano gives a great performance as Hank and delivers the character's feelings so effortlessly. It's Daniel Radcliffe who gives the standout performance though, arguably the best —as well as my favourite— of his career, as he is incredibly hilarious in the role of the corpse —the things he does with his body and face are unbelievable, not to mention how much life he manages to bring into a dead character, literally.

A24

The humour is juvenile and quite vulgar —there are so many fart and dick jokes it's impossible to keep count— but, surprisingly, it's never off-putting as they fit the weirdness of the film to perfection. It's the quite offensive and crude jokes that are the most effective and they will make you laugh out loud very often. I don't know what it is, but there's something about the jokes and the way they are delivered, that makes even fart jokes sound like poetry.

Wildlife (2018)

I really like Paul Dano as an actor and Zoe Kazan is really growing on me, so the two of them co-writing a script and Dano directing the movie is definitely something I cannot overlook. If you have Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal, you get a movie one an idiot can pass. So yeah, I had huge expectations for Dano's directorial debut, Wildlife. 

Set in 1960, the story follows the Brinson family, Jeanette (Carey Mulligan), Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal) and their teenage son, Joe (Ed Oxenbould), as they move to Great Falls, Montana. When Jerry loses his job and refuses to take it back out of pride, he decides to join a group of volunteers to fight fires. As soon as Jerry leaves, something awakens in Jeanette and Joe is suddenly forced into the role of an adult. 

Based on Richard Ford's novel of the same name, Dano's Wildlife has a simple and yet gripping story that is both a coming-of-age drama as Joe is forced to grow up way before his time and a portrayal of a woman's existential crisis as Jeanette realises she doesn't know who she is outside of the perfect 1950s housewife. 

As you probably guessed, it's not a plot-heavy film. On the contrary, it's one of those movies that entirely relies on the characters and that's the film's greatest strength as the characters are complex and quite fascinating. Joe isn't just a kid witnessing his parents' marriage falling apart, as the film is described on any major movie website; he is a 14-year-old boy who is forced to step up and be the man of the house when his father leaves, forced to get a job and leave education and teen experiences —like having a girlfriend— behind; he is a boy who helplessly watches his mother fall apart. Jeaninne is the typical loving, seemingly happy but actually bitter, unhappy (house)wife subservient to her husband. She feels trapped in her life and when her husband leaves, she sees her opportunity to reinvent herself. At first, she comes off as a self-absorbed, selfish, cold bitch —pardon my langauge— but, as the film moves forward, we learn who she really is, a lost woman who is so used to being lost, unhappy that she doesn't recognize herself nor happiness when it's right in front of her. Jerry loves his wife and son; he is a good-natured man but he just doesn't seem to be able to keep a job and he is too proud to take low-paying, humiliating —according to him— jobs such as bag boy. 

IFC Films

As for the performances, they are very compelling. Carey Mulligan truly conveys her character's psychological breakdown and delivers a performance filled with genuine emotions. Jake Gyllenhaal is great as usual as the hard-working father. Bill Camp provides solid support as the man Jeanette has an affair with. It's Ed Oxenbould that steals the show though with a subtle and yet intense performance as Joe.

In addition, Wildlife features a stunning cinematography and a score that fits the story incredibly well. As for Dano's direction, I think he did pretty well. While at times the film is a bit melodramatic, the characters' actions don't always make sense —Jerry's behaviour towards the end—, the film is overall gripping and telling the story from the boy's perspective is a winning choice as it allows you to experience the story as Joe does.