The most difficult genre to pull off well, comedies remain the most popular theater fare because even the lame ones make money. Ink a well-known comedic actor, slap on a formulaic script, saturate the marketplace with the funniest bits, and voila--a sure-fire money maker to top the weekend box office and later pull great rental rates at Blockbuster. But finding the right elements to craft a comedy with legs that stretch many weeks in theaters and have a long shelf life is rare.

The Devil Wears Prada may prove to be such a vehicle, but the best bet from the summer of 2006 is Sundance favorite Little Miss Sunshine. The last time I’ve laughed so much throughout a comedy feature was for Chaplin, and this shares similar elements--plenty of physical comedy, subtleties that rely on facial expression, outcasts that defy authority figures, and a touch of sentimentality. Here the lovable loser “Little Tramp” character is personified by an entire family.

The Hoover family consists of a hodgepodge of quirky characters that mainstream people would consider as “losers.” Each could easily branch off to headline a separate storyline, but first time feature directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris draw upon their music video and television commercial background to set a lively pace for their ensemble cast over a plot that takes a number of creative twists.

Richard (Greg Kinnear) gives motivational “Refuse to Lose” speeches and is banking on selling his 9-step program to a publisher while his wife Sheryl (Toni Collette) valiantly tries to keep their marriage together despite his entrepreneurial failures. She also strives to hold the entire family together. Their son Dwayne (Paul Dano) stoically reads Nietzsche and has vowed to remain mute until he becomes a fighter pilot (he hasn’t spoken for 9 months to date).

Sheryl’s brother Frank (Steve Carell), a Proust scholar, has just attempted suicide after losing his gay lover, a prestigious academic grant, and his university teaching position. Frank’s cranky father (Alan Arkin) is now living with them after being kicked out of a nursing home for snorting heroin; he readily admits that young people should avoid drugs but insists that old people would be crazy NOT to. Grandpa is also a porn aficionado and advises 15 year old Dwayne to “fuck a lot of women” while he’s still jail bait. Even their old lemon colored VW van plays a major family role, requiring push starts and uncontrollably honking all the way to California.

Cementing this crazy band together is ice cream loving daughter Olive (Abigail Breslin), a seven-year old charmer who dreams of being a beauty queen despite her pudginess. Watching taped re-runs of Miss America and practicing her talent program with Grandpa, she is primed to win the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. When the call comes, the Albuquerque family hops into their dilapidated VW van to get Olive to California for the contest. Forced into going to make sure his uncle Frank doesn't slit his wrists, Dwayne insists that he won't have fun, but this bizarre disaster of a road trip bonds the Hoovers and totally entertains.

Detailed obsessives may get distracted by a few weird geographical turns on the westward journey, but most will joyfully ride the fast paced comedy to it hilarious highpoint, where Olive and family stick it to America's shallow obsession with beauty contests. Although you “could” choose to focus on satirical aspects to neatly encapsulate the whimsical film within its indie roots, expect this comedy to cross over to mainstream audiences as well. This entertains across socio-intellectual boundaries and runs a Chaplinesque gamut--from pathos to slapstick to poignancy as the lovable family sweetens their losses to make “lemonade.” Not every indie film proves provocative; and this one fleshes out an intelligent, humorous script and delights with great ensemble cast work.

In a summer movie season with far too many disappointments, including a generic Woody Allen offering, Little Miss Sunshine rejuvenates the genre to make a multiplex road trip worthwhile. Fox Searchlight Pictures doesn't even give away all the funny bits in the trailer. THAT is something completely different!