Little Miss Sunshine Review by Jadynn Matas

Setting- Yes

3002629_2 — 2024-03-21 15:57:16 UTC

In this picture, it shows the whole family in their Volkswagen, yellow van. A typical road trip genre movie has a family driving from point A to point B. In the film "Little Miss Sunshine" the entire family is together driving from their home in New Mexico to the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant in California. They also had classic stops from road trip movies like a gas station. They stopped at the gas station and ran into a few issues there as well. With both of these scenes combined, this film has the exact setting as a typical road trip movie would.

Characters- Yes

3002629_2 — 2024-03-21 16:01:10 UTC

In this photo, all of the main characters are together on this trip. In typical road trip films, the characters are a family together trying to get somewhere. They also all have some type of issue or problem with each other that also fits perfectly into the characters in this type of genre. Some of the characters are static and some are dynamic which fits perfectly into some people changing and growing for the better while others remain the same and that makes them all get along better in the end. For example, at the beginning of the movie Richard was very obsessed with the idea of winning and not being a loser but since he matured and changed his mindset, he ended up being really supportive towards Olive, even if she didn't win. Another example is Dwayne started the film as silent and depressed all of the time but once he found out he wouldn't be able to fly planes, he had a new realization that his family is pretty great and he was able to connect with all of them in the end. Since it is a family that is together on a journey, this is a fantastic example of classic characters in a road trip film.

Iconography- Yes

3002629_2 — 2024-03-21 16:06:38 UTC

In a typical road trip film some iconography that you would see is a type of car or van driving on a highway. Here, the whole family is driving to California for Olive to compete in the beauty pageant. They have to take the highway to get there and they are doing it as a family. The shot of the bus on the highway exhibits a perfect example of why this film fits the road trip genre because you see the van and highway all throughout the movie. There are multiple scenes of the van being shown, we see a gas station, and parts of them driving on the highway which are all great examples.

Plot- Yes

3002629_2 — 2024-03-21 16:12:57 UTC

In a classic road trip film, the plot starts with the characters traveling from point A to point B with the main part being the characters development or personal growth along the way. At the beginning of the film, the family all argues with each other which makes it seem like it will be impossible for them to work together. Once they begin their journey on traveling to California, you can see a bond starting to form with all of the characters. Dwayne starts to talk again, Frank starts to bond with Dwayne, and Richard becomes nicer to everyone and stops hyper fixating on winning. In the end, they all come together as a family and have a good time together when dancing with Olive on stage. This is a perfect example of a road trip plot because the characters main purpose is to travel from point A to point B but they don't realize how much they grow overtime. Then in the end they come together as a family and end up creating an amazing bond, that is exactly what a road trip plot is.

Mood- Yes

3002629_2 — 2024-03-22 15:45:35 UTC

In road trip films, the mood is all over the place, like a whirlwind of emotions. Different moods in a road trip film are exciting, nail-biting and suspenseful. In this scene, the family had just took the Grandfathers dead body from the hospital and put him in the trunk so they could make it to the pageant on time. As they were driving, the horn became stuck and wouldn't stop honking so they got pulled over by the police. As Richard was talking to the police officer, he spoke about not going in the trunk. Because of Richards comment, the police officer made Richard open the trunk, immediately making the whole family nervous, and the audience. We didn't know whether or not the police officer would find the body or what he would do to them if he did. As the trunk opened, thankfully the police officer fixated on the porn and was completely oblivious to the dead body. This mood perfectly shows how well this movie correlates to a road trip genre. The audience felt the nail-biting and suspenseful mood as the officer went to open the trunk which is exactly what a road trip film is supposed to do.

Cinematic Style- Yes

3002629_2 — 2024-03-22 15:59:20 UTC

In a classic road trip film, there are a lot of medium wide shots that showcase all of the characters at once. Typically, these shots only show the characters, not really the whole background so they can really make viewers focus on the characters. In this scene, the entire family is sitting together and the shot shows them all perfectly. You can see all of the characters and their emotions because of their acting style. Usually, acting style in a road trip film uses the actors to showcase the stress and irritation of everyone at the beginning. This shot illustrates this acting style by showing the viewers that the family as a whole is clearly frustrated. This fits great into the typical road trip cinematic style because the film contains multiple medium-wide shots as well as great acting style from the actors that correlates well to the road trip theme.

Setting- Yes

3002629_2 — 2024-03-22 16:08:48 UTC

In a tragicomedy, the setting usually takes place in either an urban or suburban place. In this scene, we are able to see that the family lives in the suburbs. Also, after driving all over the place, they end up in Los Angeles, California which is a very urban city. This correlates well with the typical setting of a tragicomedy because the film "Little Miss Sunshine" uses both urban and suburban settings all throughout the film.

Characters- No

3002629_2 — 2024-03-22 16:12:59 UTC

In a tragicomedy, usually there is a protagonist and then "sidekick" actors added in for a comedic relief. The issue with "Little Miss Sunshine" not fitting into the typical tragicomedy character type is that there isn't really one singular protagonist with sidekicks. In this film, there are multiple main characters, the entire family, and we see all of them equally throughout the film. They also all have comedic moments, for the most part, but not one specific person sticks out way more than the others. Because of this film not containing a singular protagonist with side characters, I would not classify this film as fitting into the tragicomedy genre when it comes to characters.

Iconography- Yes

3002629_2 — 2024-04-01 19:06:05 UTC

In a typical tragicomedy, it is expected to see people with the emotions of sadness or grieving. It is also typical for a tragicomedy film to show the characters hugging each other in hard times. The movie Little Miss Sunshine represents this iconography well because in the scene where the Grandfather passes away while they are at the hospital, everyone becomes very upset. Immediately, we see the mother hugging her daughter Olive while they both have tears in their eyes, which is a perfect detail. Because of this scene and a few others that contained the family members crying and hugging, this film fits well in the category of iconography in a tragicomedy.

Plot- Yes

3002629_2 — 2024-04-02 00:01:15 UTC

In a tragicomedy, it usually starts with all of the characters having a huge struggle that they are trying to overcome. Once the film comes to an end, the characters are able to have a happy ending and overcome most of their struggles along the way. In this particular film, the family starts off arguing a lot and trying to rush to California so Olive would be able to compete in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. Dwayne was mute and just wanted to be accepted into the Air Force because he hates everyone, Richard needs the book deal to be a hit and always feels the need to put others down and Frank is severely depressed and lonely. In the end, all three of these characters are able to overcome their obstacles, it might not have been in the way they wanted things to end up but they become grateful for their family. They realized that although they didn't get what they wanted, they got something better, an amazing family connection. Not only did they laugh at the pageant and Olive competed, they were able to figure out their issues and come together as a family.

Mood- Yes

3002629_2 — 2024-04-02 02:15:04 UTC

Usually, tragicomedy films contain moods of sadness and humor throughout the whole movie. An example of sadness or depressive moods in the film Little Miss Sunshine is when the Grandfather passes away. The scene when the family finds out is very upsetting and seeing all of their tears causes the viewers to also feel emotionally upset for them. On the other hand, an example of humor as the mood is when the family finally arrives to the Little Miss Sunshine pageant, running behind schedule of coarse, and Frank opens the door which immediately falls off. This scene is very funny and causes the viewers to laugh because throughout the film, the van was falling apart from the beginning. This scene just really sells a funny moment because of the fact that now an actual piece of the van falls off. All in all, the film portrays a tragicomedy mood very well when it comes to humor and sadness/tragedy.

Cinematic Style- Yes

3002629_2 — 2024-04-02 02:30:39 UTC

In a tragicomedy, their costumes usually consist of an "average" outfit for the characters age like a teenager wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants and an adult wearing a button up and khaki pants. In Little Miss Sunshine, their costumes consisted very much of the time that the movie is set in. This is very modern compared to right now, Richard is wearing khaki pants and his typical pullover shirt while Dwayne is wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants. It usually coincides with the time that the characters are set in and how it goes with their personalities. Since all of the characters in Little Miss Sunshine are wearing costumes that fit well with their setting in time, this correlates well with a typical costume in tragicomedies. The movie also consists of a lot of closeups which goes with the usual editing of a tragicomedy. For example, while Sheryl was talking to Franks doctor, the camera cut to a close up shot of Franks face, showing his depression and loneliness in his eyes. Another example is the close up to Olives face when she is talking to her Grandfather in their motel room. In this scene she is upset because of her fathers comment about her needing to be skinny and she needs to win this competition because he doesn't like losers. This close up shows the true pain that she feels which allows the viewers to fully grasp her emotions in this scene. Overall, there are many close ups throughout this film which are very common in tragicomedies.

Larger Purpose

3002629_2 — 2024-04-02 02:46:58 UTC

The overall message of Little Miss Sunshine is to overthrow the idea of winning and losing being important in life and showing the true idea that family means everything. From the road trip genre perspective, this main theme is illustrated perfectly. You can see the characters development throughout the entire film. Dwayne realizes how grateful he actually is for is family and Frank realizes that he isn't alone anymore. The most important character shown is Richard in this case because he was able to overcome is idea of winning be most important in life and realize that as long as his family is happy, then so is he and that is all that matters. It also fits well with the setting because as they kept driving and changing the setting, the more their characters developed their ideology along the way. Lastly, the mood also coincides with this theme well because it starts off stressful and agitating and ends with an overall happiness once the characters come together and support each other over everything else. On the other hand, the tragicomedy genre portrays this message but not completely. Although there weren't any sidekicks and one main character, the idea of facing an issue with obstacles in between that ends with a happy event fits perfectly in this message. The characters all start of struggling with standing each other but once the tragedy of the Grandfather passing away occurs, the characters truly come together to help one of their own. They all decided that the Grandpa would want Olive to compete in the pageant, despite his passing so they all worked their hardest to make that happen. They all overlooked their own opinions on it and tried to make that time wonderful for Olive which shows that winning does not always matter. They all did this for their family, despite what member pushed them to do it, they all joined together. The mood also goes along with this message by helping the idea that there are sad or tragic moments in life but the end result is always the most important. As long as you enjoy and appreciate the good parts of your life, the other stuff doesn't matter as much. To conclude, both the road trip genre and tragicomedy genre illustrate the main point of the film of overcoming the idea of winning and losing and instead appreciating the important things in your life, like your loved ones.