Best Movie Ever

That is a lofty title, you say. Well, I'm ready to stand behind that statement. It may not be the best movie ever to you, but for me, I was floored.

Last night, Scott and I went to see a "word of mouth" free screening (and afterward, a director Q and A session with the two directors, which was great) of Fox Searchlight's new film, coming out Aug. 4, "Little Miss Sunshine." This movie has Alan Arkin, Steve Carrell, Toni Collette, and Greg Kinnear in it, among others. The premise is that they are in a dysfunctional (shocking, I know) family, where the young daughter (played with charm and fabulous intensity by Abigail Breslin)is suddenly a contender in the "Little Miss Sunshine" pageant (while being the most un-pageanty girl in the world), and follows them on their trip from New Mexico to California for the pageant. There are heartbreaking, touching moments along the way, and there are moments where I laughed until I cried. Really. The whole audience was in hysterics.

A small group of us went to see it, and everyone in our group, and everyone around us, loved the movie. It was entertaining, lovely, and real. The character development was top notch, and the story kept me hanging on for the entire length of it. Scott felt that it was definitely one of the best movies of the year, but he seemed surprised when I said that I thought it was perhaps my favorite of all time. But my thing about movies (and life!) is the relationships. Nothing makes me nuttier than a movie with no emotional range and no relational or good character development. I could not find a single thing wrong with this movie. I was enchanted from beginning to end. Based on sheer default, it rises to the top of my list.

I highly recommend "Little Miss Sunshine". I know that other people's recommendations perhaps set the bar too high sometimes (other people singlehandedly ruined "The Sixth Sense" for me before I even saw it), so experience it for yourself. If you hate it, or don't love it as much as I do, then you will lump it in with the rest of the movies you've shelled out money for that you maybe could've done without (that's most movies for most of us), but if you love it as much as I did, then you are experiencing one of those movie magic moments that will stay in your mind forever.
Either way, it's worth a try, isn't it? (and if you don't trust my opinion, ask Scott!) :)