Alan Arkin might have got the Oscar but it's Greg Kinnear who steals this for me. Talk about a pain in the proverbial! He is "Richard", a rather pompously self-motivated man who is trying to sell his nine point plan for success to "Grossmann" (a fleeting appearance from Bryan Cranston). Meantime, his young daughter "Olive" (Abigail Breslin) is continually practising for the eponymous pageant under the aegis of her foul-mouthed, cocaine-snorting, grandfather (Arkin) and beside her whacky brother "Dwayne" (Paul Dano) who has taken a vow of silence and hates everyone and everything. He just wants to join the air force. There's also a surprise guest in their home. "Uncle Frank" (Steve Carell). Now he's just got out of the ER having tried to kill himself after his student boyfriend dumped him for another Proust-spouting, but wealthier, scholar! At the helm, trying to keep this family from complete self-destruction is "Sheryl" (Toni Collette) and that task becomes distinctly more difficult when young "Oilve" is awarded a spot in the national finals - in California. Dad can't go, mum can't drive, brother couldn't care less - but "Olive" is determined so into a clapped out VW camper-van they all reluctantly pile and off on a mini road trip. This entertainingly addresses plenty of their demons, allows for a little tragedy to galvanise attitudes and ultimately, for me anyway, demonstrates clearly the ghastliness of those hideous ceremonies that stink of precociousness and gushing parental aspiration. The journey on four wheels is as much a metaphor for that being taken by all in their push-start jalopy, and with Kinnear really getting under my fingernails at just about every turn it's a much quirkier and more thought-provoking comedy that leaves very little out of bounds. Collette also looks like she is having some fun as they deliver a pithily delivered script that does entertain (and begs the question: why would she ever have married "Richard" in the first place?). Thank heavens for granddad and his musical tastes. Oh, and his porn, too...!
