Love it, love it, love it!!! That’s what I have to say about the new film “Little Miss Sunshine.” The film is slowly making its way across the country in its yellow VW bus and leaving a wake of fanatic fans in its rearview mirror.

The newest black comedy to hit theaters, “Little Miss Sunshine” features the Albuquerque, N.M.-based Hoover family comprised of Richard (Greg Kinnear) the dad, Sheryl (Toni Collette) the mom, their two children 15 year old Dwayne (Paul Dano) and 7 year old Olive (Abigail Breslin), Richard’s father (Alan Arkin) and Sheryl’s brother Frank (Steve Carrell).

The film begins with Sheryl picking up Frank, the foremost Proust scholar, from the hospital after his failed attempt at suicide. She’s been instructed not to leave him alone for any reason, so she brings him home and bunks him with Dwayne, who has taken a vow of silence until he reaches his goal of being accepted into the Air Force Academy.

Richard is a self-labeled motivational speaker who is banking all his hopes and dreams on a book deal which has yet to be finalized. His life mantras, “If you can’t win, don’t try” and “If you’re not the winner, then you’re a loser,” leave his children feeling the pressure of being number one at everything they do. Richard’s father, known simply as Grandpa, is a eccentric old man who has gotten himself kicked out of his senior’s complex after he failed to obey their rules; he didn’t like their anti-drug, er anti-heroin, policy. Sheryl wants to be a good mother but clearly has some anger developing over the stuff her life is made of.

Early in the film we learn that Olive came in second in a local pageant competition while visiting her aunt in California. When the winner of the pageant must step down from her post days before the state-wide competition, Olive becomes the new representative to attend and compete in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant in Redondo Beach, California.

Through a series of realizations, they discover that the only way for Olive to get to the pageant, which is three days away, is for the entire family to load into their VW bus and drive to California.

What can I say, this is by far the best film I have seen this year and one of the best I have seen in a long time. My expectations were high for this movie and it surpassed even those. The ensemble cast is truly an ensemble, there is no one star of the film. However, one could argue that each actor is a star in his or her own right. I was blown away by the performances of every actor in this film and particularly that of the young Dano and Breslin as well as Steve Carrell.

Dano, who is mute for much of the film, manages to convey more of his character’s personality that many actors do with a full script. His body language and facial expressions convey everything.

Breslin, who has previously been seen in films like “Signs” and “Raising Helen,” plays a precocious little girl with rockin’ 70s style and slammin’ dance moves who idolizes her grandfather. She’s smart and funny and although she seems completely confident in her own greatness, when it all boils down, she’s just a little girl looking for her family’s love and approval.

I was thrilled to see Carrell in a role so different than what he is used to playing. Rather than an overconfident imbecile whose humor is based largely on physical comedy for laughs, Carrell plays an understated, quiet character who illicits laughs without trying too hard. We get to see depth and heart that many may have doubted Carrell could pull off so skillfully.

Arkin, Collette and Kinnear are the veteran actors of this bunch and the film would be lacking if any one of these actors had been excluded from the cast.

“Little Miss Sunshine” makes a statement about our culture of winning and being the best, without being too preachy, and it does so with laugh-out-loud humor, brains and heart.

The film takes you on a roller-coaster ride of emotions, and when it’s over you’ll be smiling for the rest of the day.

“Little Miss Sunshine” is a must see for anyone who enjoys quirky comedies that offer more than just laughs. It is rated R for language, some sex and drug content.

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