Which recent movies will become classics? Little Miss Sunshine - Within its own genre, yes

The ‘Sundance Effect’ has unfortunately developed a near plague of insufferable, self-conscious mawkishness over the years. Misfit boys finding new meaning to their existence in the arms of pink-haired manic pixie dream girls; sun-dappled bike rides as the latest band to feature a ukulele solo play softly in the distance. Some have indeed come off this false and cloying (Zach Braff’s Garden State), others smarter and keener (last year’s Me and Earl and the Dying Girl); but as the fires of kook devour all in sight, there will always remain one film left standing in the ashes: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’ Little Miss Sunshine. One scene that guarantees its elevation above the rabble sees teenager Dwayne (Paul Dano) realise he’s colour-blind, and thus will never be able to achieve his dream of becoming a jet fighter. Dano’s meltdown here is so raw, and so positively tragic, that it’ll be a hard job to ever forget that epic f-bomb as the years pass. - CL