"Little Miss Sunshine" is a rare comedy that has the ability to move its audience. It is a rare drama that brings its viewers to tears of laughter. It is a rare satire that actually makes a convincing and important point. On top of all of these things, it is a skillfully shot and amazingly acted piece of filmmaking.

The movie opens with a young girl, Olive (Abigail Breslin, "Signs"), watching a beauty pageant that she has recorded off of television so that she can watch it again and again. She eerily mimics the models' hand and facial gestures, specifically the winner's excitement at the end of the pageant. She seems not so much to strive to look like the heavily hair-sprayed and made-up contestants as much as she tries to be like them. Olive is practicing to be a winner.

This comes as no surprise when her father, Richard (Greg Kinnear, "As Good As It Gets"), is introduced. He is leading what appears to be a seminar for his nine-step program, "Refuse to Lose." His smooth-talking, smug demeanor is a shallow shell for his own lack of success. This is the part Kinnear was born to play. He is a self-help instructor who ironically remains a failure.

Meanwhile, his wife Sheryl (Toni Collette, "In Her Shoes"), secretly smokes a cigarette as she drives to pick up her brother, Frank (Steve Carell, "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"), from the hospital. Following a failed affair with a male student, Frank tried to commit suicide. But he obviously failed at even that.

They all convene at the dinner table to eat what seems like a common meal in their household, a bucket of fried chicken. Also at the table is the family's son, Dwayne (Paul Dano, "The Girl Next Door"), who has taken a vow of silence until he is able to receive his pilot's license. Rounding out the dysfunctional sextet is Grandpa (Alan Arkin, "Firewall"), a drug addict as horny as a teenage boy.

The scene at the dinner table is brilliantly uncomfortable: the people sitting around the table are uncomfortable, and the people watching the scene are uncomfortable. Still, one cannot help but laugh at how awkward the conversation becomes. The entire movie is made up of moments like this one, in which the family attempts to do something normal, and their efforts go horribly and hilariously wrong.

After dinner, Sheryl listens to a message on the answering machine informing her that the winner of a beauty pageant that Olive participated in had her crown taken away after she tested positive for, get this, diet pills. What a sad, but almost certainly true, commentary. Olive is thusly declared the winner, which means she gets to compete in California's Little Miss Sunshine competition. The family has two days to drive from New Mexico to California.

After some convincing, the group piles into the family's VW bus and sets out on what will turn out to be quite an eventful journey. Exterior shots of the bus driving along are especially gorgeous. In many instances, the bus is but a small image moving over a grand landscape. One shot in particular has the character-filled vehicle drive from the bottom left-hand corner of the screen off to the right. The sky and the desert in the background beautifully accent the tiny, yellow vehicle traveling down the road.

Stunning scenery aside, the acting is the main attraction of the film. Breslin does such an unbelievable job as Olive that it would be a shame if she were not nominated for an Oscar, or at least a Golden Globe. There is a scene in which she asks her Grandpa if she is pretty. She asks the question through tears that seem to come from her, not from the script. Her convincing and impressive acting skills spur audience members to consider their own insecurities, making the film a relatable endeavor.

Carell also gives an impressively low-key performance as a former scholar in the middle of a mental breakdown. His eyes convey a man who is constantly on the brink of breaking into tears, but he is able to hide his sadness through subtle — and in one very funny scene, not-so-subtle — sarcasm. In fact, every actor is perfectly cast in his or her respective role, and each gives an exceptional performance.

"Little Miss Sunshine" is a refreshingly enjoyable film full of sharp wit, laugh-out-loud incidents and a great deal of heart. If people want to see a smart, touching, funny comedy that makes them think — that maybe even teaches them a little something about identity, family togetherness and how horrific these child beauty pageants actually are — then "Little Miss Sunshine" should not be missed.

Grade: 5 out of 5