Little Miss Sunshine review at NRO

I’m in National Review Online today with a review of what is probably my favorite movie of the year so far, Little Miss Sunshine. The wind-up…

Brash, riotous, and utterly endearing, it is a film that dares to crawl over the back seat and demand to know, “Are we there yet?” Like those sugar-wired kids insistently asking when the fun will arrive, it is both maddening and irresistibly cute, a film that revels in how dismally not together family togetherness can be. It is a movie about breakdowns, not just of rickety old busses, but of families and individuals too. But most importantly, it is about keeping your foot on the gas while cruising down a highway where all the exits lead to failure. When all else fails — and unquestionably, all will fail — go for broke.

UPDATE: In my review, I mistakenly identify Steve Carell's character, Frank, as the brother of the family father, Richard. Several helpful readers have pointed out to me that he is actually the brother of the mother, Sheryl. As they say on the schoolyard, "My bad, yo."