'Little Miss Sunshine' charms way to Oscars

"Little Miss Sunshine" directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (R) pose with actress Abigail Breslin at the 64th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills in this January 15, 2007 file photo. [REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni]

LOS ANGELES - The makers of "Little Miss Sunshine" are keenly aware of the irony that their film, a cheeky repudiation of competitive culture, is a leading contender in Hollywood's biggest beauty contest -- the Oscars.

In its bumpy journey from production limbo to film-festival darling to Oscar favorite, the small-budget comedy about a dysfunctional family on a cross-country road trip in a decrepit Volkswagen bus has proven itself the little movie that could.

The film, once considered an Oscar longshot, is nominated for four Academy Awards, including best picture.

No one was more surprised by the film's success than its first-time screenwriter or the husband-and-wife team who made it their feature debut as directors.

"It's a validation of the idea that anyone with a computer can sit down and write a script -- without agents, without credits, without any prior experience -- and if you're very lucky, you'll go all the way," said screenwriter Michael Arndt. His story, about an unlikely young beauty queen and a family drawn closer by disappointment, was nominated for best original screenplay.

FIGHT TO GET MADE

The film was released by 20th Century Fox's art-house division, Fox Searchlight. It marks Arndt's first produced feature script, which was initially shelved after three years in development by another studio.

"I just gave up and thought, 'well, that's it, the film is never going to get made,'" Arndt said in an interview. "So this whole past year, it's sort of been like Murphy's law in reverse. Everything that could go right did."

For Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the music-video creators who directed "Sunshine," the paradox between the film's anti-contest message and the Oscar race is striking.

"The film is really about how not to look at life as a competition, and now, here we are dealing with competition," Faris said. "It's kind of a funny position to be in."

Made for $8 million, the film has a small-scale, intimate feel that sets it apart from more lavish productions typically favored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Juxtaposing Alan Arkin as a cranky, heroin-snorting grandfather with a fondness for porn, against 10-year-old Abigail Breslin as the plucky title character, Olive, the quirky, whimsical film connected with moviegoers.

"The recognition it's gotten from the academy is testament to the fact that it's the best-liked film of 2006, across the board," said Leonard Maltin, film critic and historian for TV's "Entertainment Tonight."

"Sunshine" is reminiscent, he said, of two other dark-horse comedy hits of recent years -- 1997's "The Full Monty," which earned four Oscar nominations and won for best music, and 2002's "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," nominated for best screenplay.

Arkin and Breslin, both nominated for Academy Awards in the supporting-performance categories, led a cast that included past Oscar nominees Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette as Olive's stressed-out parents and Steve Carell, from television's "The Office," as her suicidal uncle.

"It's all about these individuals pursuing separately very starry-eyed visions of glory, and as each of those dreams crashes and burns, they're able to open their eyes and come together as a family," Arndt said.

Through January, the film has grossed nearly $60 million in U.S. ticket sales, a handsome return considering its small budget.

The film could gain a bigger boost if it wins the best-picture Oscar, but Faris said she and Dayton have mixed feelings about that. "We'd like to feel insecure when we go to make our next movie," she said. "Losing might be the best things for us."