I went to see Little Miss Sunshine over the weekend. For some reason I went in expecting to chuckle and smile, but not to belly laugh. I expected the film to be a bit over the top, a tad too gimmicky, and generally another Napoleon Dynamite wannabe (as I suggested in a recent post about formulaic films).

Going into a film with realistic-sized expectations always helps, but I think even if my expectations had been on steroids I would have been thoroughly pleased with Sunshine. Each character, while conceptually over the top (with the exception of the mom), was played perfectly. Similarly, even though many of the plot’s premises are over the top, they work. You don’t sit there thinking “That wouldn’t happen.” You sit there laughing like a fool.

So back to formulas. Obviously, some things really make a good story, a good film, and those things should be paid attention to and learned from. (It’s not like Sunshine is the first road trip film ever created, or the first with an overly angst-ridden teenager.) And even though legitimate formulas can be traced between successes like Sunshine and Napoleon, I still think the “anti-formula” has to be at the heart of a film like this if it’s going to make it. It has to be fresh. I think Sunshine perfectly balanced what works with what’s fresh.