Shiny happy mixed-up folks

Little Miss Sunshine at Odean Covent Garden, 4th October 2006

Cheer up. Life's not so bad. Well, families suck, life's a bitch and love's an endless disappointment. But hey, there's beauty pageants to be sabotaged (come on, they deserve it- children should NOT be wearing fake tan and dressing like Thai prostitutes) and crappy vehicles to be vandalised, and bodies to be illegally transported... fun fun fun. Pull yourself together, abandon the hot water bottle and comfy slippers, and go see this sanguine, winter-melancholy- defying, mood-boosting rollercoaster type movie. Don't expect fireworks or moral affirmation, or pyrotechnics of any shape or form, but if the idea of a family of (somtime slightly hackneyed but overall well-played) eccentrics doing their best to pull together and make the best of a bad job, makes you chortle; then go for it, and be utterly satisfied.

Oh and I definately went to school with Dwayne- the quintessential disaffectted long-fringe wearing teenage boy, buth then everyone over thirty will probably think that. And Olive is so so cute. I havn't seen such a quirky looking little girl in a movie since 'Wellcome to the Dollhouse', although that was of course a much darker movie (you definately shouldn't see it if you're looking for something similar to LMS).

Overall the movie lives up to its name, and is excellent as an early winter palliative. 8/10.

GSG.