Weekly Review -- All hail the beautiful, the unexplainable and the misunderstood

Little Miss Sunshine (2006) -- The most charming film of 2006, this film is everything you have heard about it and more. The Hoover family, including frazzled mother Sheryl (Toni Collette), failed motivational speaker father Richard (Greg Kinnear), porn-obsessed grandfather (Alan Arkin) and suicidal uncle Frank (Steve Carell), set off on a road trip in order to enter Sheryl and Richard's daughter Olive (Abigail Breslin) into the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. Along the way, they bump into every obstacle imaginable, while realizing just how much the happiness of their family depends on their own dysfunctions. Michael Arndt's screenplay is bitingly sharp, playing with stereotypes and staples of American pop culture and beauty obsession. The acting is spontaneous, evoking the kind of realism only seen in documentaries. I thought of Kinnear and Breslin as stand-outs, although Arkin and Carell are equally impressive. The writing is the film's highlight, though, creating a commentary not just on our society's concept of beauty, but also on the meaning of family in our hectic world. Little Miss Sunshine is a sweet and smart story, with honest performances and screenplay, and with a timeless message.

10/10


The Return (2006) -- A pleasant surprise if ever there was one, this film from director Asif Kapadia is an atmospheric piece that creates chills using its gloomy atmosphere and innovative filmmaking techniques. In a time when a movie like Saw is getting a fourth installment, it is no wonder that The Return did not fare well. The film is a subtle horror film with a few other elements added for good measure. Successful car sales representative Joanna Mills (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is having visions and nightmares that seem to be connected with a murder which took place 15 years earlier. She decides to investigate further and her search takes her to small-town Texas... The Return is one of those films where the less you know, the more you will enjoy it. The story is original and I loved the use of the flashback sequences. Gellar is a good choice for the role of Joanna; the character is tough, yet very vulnerable and unsure of herself, masking her insecurities with a calm and collected facade. Some negative aspects include the underdeveloped relationship between Joanna and her father -- we are not exactly sure why they became estranged -- as well as a very slow beginning, which does not seem to know in which direction the film is going. Still, the story gets on track after about 20 minutes, at which point it starts throwing curveballs at the audience. This is a skillfully made and well thought out film. Please let it surprise you. You will be glad that you did.

7/10


Lady in the Water (2006) -- One of the most (unfairly) maligned films of 2006, this M. Night Shyamalan offering is a fantasy for adults. Lonely apartment manager Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti) saves the life of a mythical being named Story (Bryce Dallas Howard). She is a water nymph, who has come to our world with a purpose, but who is being chased by monsters from her world. The tenants, usually inhabiting worlds of their own, now need to band together and help Story with her task. One of the best things about this film are the characterizations of the tenants. I appreciated the variety of the oddball characters, as well as Heep's character representing an anchor of sorts. Giamatti is genuinely sympathetic as Heep. His scenes with Howard's character are touching, revealing his nature layer by layer. Howard herself is truly otherworldly as Story; her ethereal appearance is perfect for the character. Bob Balaban is pompously appealing as Mr. Farmer; his monologue on plotline and character clichés is strangely funny and disturbing all at once. Cindy Cheung's Young-Soon Choi is a clever and hilarious character; the dentist line had me in stitches. Some negative aspects of the film are the preachy and long-winded parts of the screenplay, which occasionally make the film seem self-involved. I was, however, too absorbed in the mystery to pay much attention to its shortfalls. The film is a fairytale about faith, grief, magic and salvation. It shows that anything is possible and that random, delightful events can occur even in the most mundane of lives.

8/10