Directed by: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris Starring: Greg Kinnear, Abigail Breslin, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Paul Dano and Alan Arkin MPAA rating: R (for adult language, adult themes) Running time: 102 minutes Best suited for: dysfunction addicts Least suited for: angst-free and comedy-lite fans Let's forget for a moment that I loathe children's beauty pageants, with their JonBenet insanity of what-are-they-think- ing? parents living vicariously, shamelessly through children dolled up like runway models, kids who should be playing in dirt and giggling over cartoons. Adolescence comes quickly enough without pushing the envelope; pageants teach children that vying for prettiest is a game to be won at any cost. The vast majority of runners-up are- what-losers? My, but what invaluable lessons to impart on a 9-year-old.

"Little Miss Sunshine" does its best to parody these pageants and, in that regard, I applaud the film's sharp-honed edginess. As a bittersweet tale about a dysfunctional family trying to pull itself together, the effort suffers a bit in terms of stereotyping those on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Otherwise, "Little Miss Sunshine" sparkles as a darkly funny and poignant social snapshot of American values.

Acorn's Rating Guide: When young Olive Hoover (Abigail Breslin) unexpectedly wins a local beauty contest, her family plans an 800-mile road trip to attend the finals. Greg Kinnear plays Olive's dad, Richard, a failing motivational speaker whose nine-step pop philosophy is driving everyone crazy. Olive's doting grandpa is played with crass charm by Allan Arkin, a foul-mouthed, drug-snorting, porn-perusing senior who's been kicked out of his retirement home and resides with the Hoovers. Toni Collette plays Richard's wife, Sheryl, trying to hold the family together but losing her capacity to cope. She's brought her brother, Frank (Steve Carell), into her home after his recently attempted suicide. The Hoovers are quickly running out of room-emotional and otherwise.

Paul Dano plays teen-aged, Nietzsche-reading Dwain, who's taken a vow of silence and mutely scribbles sentiments like "I Hate Everyone." The kid's funny in his own dismal way, yet behind the pathetic curtain of disdain, I remember thinking: Can anyone spell Columbine? This is one family that wouldn't notice an arsenal in their son's bedroom. Heck, they don't even know their own daughter's talent-show abilities. Grandpa's been clandestinely rehearsing with Olive for the last few weeks. While not an altogether believable scenario- hey, wouldn't you wonder about your daughter's talents?-the Hoover family's ignorance does pay off in one of the most richly rewarding endings of recent memory. Olive is the sweetfaced innocent, not yet ravaged by dysfunction, although one can only wonder how long she'll hold out.

For much of the film, we follow the Hoovers in their brokendown VW bus as they sputter toward Los Angeles. I was reminded of the films "Broken Flowers" and "Garden State"- not such much in plot and structure but in terms of mood and 'tude, films attempting to sift meager flecks of humor from life's daily drama. In "Little Miss Sunshine" the concept works more often than not, although here and there the film attempts to inflate the melodramatic to unseemly proportions. Co-directors Jonathan Dayton and Varlerie Faris don't allow the Hoovers many lucky breaks along the way, and their constant barrage of misfortune can begin to chafe.

Yet when it's funny, "Little Miss Sunshine" is very funny. Let's face it, dysfunction plays much better than normality, and for some reason even when you think you're not supposed to be laughing, you find yourself unable to stop. (The best of the recent crop of dysfunctional family tales is the brilliantly told "The Squid and the Whale"- for all you dysfunction addicts out there. And while the Hoovers' troubles don't quite escalate to those of "Squid's" Berkmans, the two families certainly could be close relatives.)

"Little Miss Sunshine's" trailers advertise a hilarious family romp, but be warned there's a haze of misery that never fully diffuses. While the family manages to pull together when real crisis strikes-okay, the Hoovers are a dysfunctional family with heart-there remains a morose realization that Olive's journey hasn't really changed anyone or anything and that once this particular road trip ends, dysfunction and impending angst won't be far behind.