by MALCOLM FRASER

The wacky dysfunctional-family road-trip comedy is a dicey genre, perverted from its National Lampoon’s Vacation origins and then left to die in the quirky indie graveyard of the ’90s. However, Little Miss Sunshine rises above its dubious pedigree. Directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris have a background in music videos, but fear not: this is no hyper-stylized wankfest, but a quietly well-crafted comedy.

The bare-bones plot begins when young Olive (Abigail Breslin) gets accepted into one of those creepy kiddie beauty pageants, and circumstances force her whole family to travel with her to the contest. Her dad, Richard (Greg Kinnear), is a low-level motivational speaker who badly needs a taste of his own self-help medicine. Uncle Frank (Steve Carell) is a gay academic just sprung from the loony bin after a suicide attempt. Brother Dwayne (Paul Dano) is a teen so sullen he’s actually taken a vow of silence. Alan Arkin offers a brilliantly demented performance as the heroin-addicted Grandpa, and Toni Collette ably plays the straight-man role as mom Sheryl.

Together they head out on the road in a beat-up old van, and what follows is essentially a group character study. In an age where structure-obsessed Hollywood writers over-value clever plot devices, it’s refreshing to see a film where the storyline takes a backseat to themes and characters. It works mostly because of the uniformly strong cast. Kinnear is perfect as the dad barely holding on to his dignity; something about the role brings out the latent American-dream-gone-wrong vibe he has always exuded. Carell also excels in his role; the sadness and poignant humanity he showed in The 40-Year-Old Virgin is refined here, and unlike many a funnyman turned dramatic actor, he knows when to hold back, key in an ensemble piece like this.

These dramatic elements aside, Little Miss Sunshine is first and foremost a comedy, and a good one. It alternates between light-hearted gags and seriously dark humour all the way to its gloriously perverse conclusion. But amongst all the laughs, Dayton and Faris have created a film of real subtlety and depth.

Little Miss Sunshine opens Friday, Aug. 11

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