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By Jackie Klein

he plot is as follows: a wonderfully un-self-conscious little girl qualifies for the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. Afraid to leave anyone home unattended, the entire family hops in an increasingly defective VW van to make the 800-mile trip to California. The entire family includes: wonderfully caring, but sometimes inept, mother; motivational speaker father; brilliant, suicidal uncle; vow-of-silence brother; and heroin-addicted grandfather. All sorts of hysterical, touching, depressing, life-changing, wonderful things ensue. Sometimes all at once. That's all you are going to get.

I went in not really knowing what to expect, the previews have been a little vague. I walked out still not really knowing what I had just witnessed, but knowing that it could change the world. I was envisioning "Live it Up Like Olive!" T-shirts and a nine-step countermovement. I want to rock out to a song that will remain unnamed because it would ruin everything.

Know that Steve Carell steals the show, and no matter how much he irks you in The Office and made you want to eat your own arm in The 40 Year-Old Virgin, you will walk away with the utmost respect for him. Know that Toni Collette is delicately beautiful in the way that only middle-aged, frustrated moms with dysfunctional families can be. Know that Greg Kinnear will piss you off as only a motivational speaker can. Prepare to fall madly in love with both the teenage (actually 22 in real life, so not jailbait!) Paul Dano and the elderly Alan Arkin. And it is only a matter of time before America falls for Abigail Breslin just like we fell for that "human head weighs eight pounds" kid in Jerry Maguire.

I realize that this is an incredibly short review, but I had to go against my instincts to include only a giant "See this movie or else!" warning, perhaps some sort of threat. Instead I am giving you my promise: this movie, with its bizarre Welcome to the Dollhouse on a road trip appeal, will change your life.

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