Alan Arkin recently died at 89, leaving a library of work that is unmatched by many of his generation. Known as the consummate actor and funny individual, he elevated both comedy and drama in a way that left audiences begging for more.
His best performance was as Edwin Hoover in Little Miss Sunshine. But who was the man, the character, and how did the movie prove to be the vehicle that will keep his memory alive?
Who was Alan Arkin?
Alan Arkin started his career as one of the first members of Second City. This comedy group would go on to churn out amazing comedy minds, including Robert Klein, Fred Willard, Harold Ramis, John Belushi, and Gilda Radner.
Thanks to Second City, Arkin was known to be an impressive improviser and comedic talent. In his first film role in a film called The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966), he won a Golden Globe for best actor and was even nominated for an Academy Award.
From there, he went on to star in numerous movies, including 1992’s Glengarry Glen Ross, and on TV on shows such as The Kominsky Method (2018-2019). Throughout his career, he earned nominations and awards, with his Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor coming from 2006’s Little Miss Sunshine.
What Is Little Miss Sunshine?
Little Miss Sunshine is a dramatic comedy starring a bevy of amazing actors at pivotal points in their careers. This included Greg Kinnear in one of his last true starring roles, Toni Collette a few years after her role in The Sixth Sense, Paul Dano in a role that brought him his first true acclaim, Steve Carell in his first dramatic role, Abigail Breslin in a role that garnered her an Academy Award nomination, and Alan Arkin.
The film follows a dysfunctional family. A father who is a wannabe motivational speaker, an overworked mother, a teen son who has taken a vow of silence, and a young daughter who wants to compete in beauty pageants. The mother’s brother has moved in with them after a failed suicide attempt, and the husband’s father has moved in with them after being kicked out of a nursing home for drug use.
The daughter, Olive, is accepted into the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant, and the family decides to support her by driving to the event. They drive the 800 miles in an old, yellow Volkswagen bus. Because of mental health concerns, nobody can be left behind.
One key role in this film is Olive’s grandfather, Edwin. He is not only living in the family basement but has decided to mentor Olive as she prepares for her beauty pageant. When her father makes comments to Olive about possibly not being pretty enough to win and how she should temper her expectations, it is Edwin who tells his son to shut up. He is an eminently supportive man whose love of his granddaughter trumps all other concerns.
One issue is that Edwin has decided to take up drugs at a late age. He is addicted to snorting heroin and makes no secret of it. It is the reason he was kicked out of the nursing home and just one reason why his son is so embarrassed by him. Over the course of the film, we see that he is constantly sneaking more drugs, and he eventually dies, leaving the family to smuggle his body out of the hospital and into the van.
His legacy lives on as the family makes it to the pageant, and Olive takes her turn on stage. However, the family suddenly realizes that Edwin has been teaching her a risqué striptease. While the entire pageant audience turns against her, the family realizes that Edwin was supportive when they were selfish, and they decide to join Olive on stage. She may not have won, but it brought the family together.
Why It Was Alan Arkin’s Best Role
Arkin has always been great at playing the sarcastic guy. As he aged, he found a variety of roles that landed him in the loving, curmudgeon stable of characters.
Little Miss Sunshine was the film that put this to its best use. Arkin comes across as arrogant and prideful. A man who has seen old age and flipped it the bird. He knows he’s going to die, and he’s ready to do it on his own terms. The character of Edwin is also dead-set on his granddaughter’s happiness. Her desire to join the competition despite not being a beauty queen gives them both purpose.
Arkin approaches the role in a way that only a seasoned actor in drama and comedy can. He knows his moments and knows when to raise his voice or lower it to a kind of motivational speech. Though the family has its doubts, the audience never does. Edwin is the sneaky grandfather we all want and want to someday be. He is grumpy because he’s earned it, dislikes his own son because he deserves it, and wants the best for his granddaughter because she deserves it.
Arkin takes an ensemble character and puts him on a level that never overshadows the one character he loves, Olive. No matter what he does, it is as a conduit for making her feel the best she ever can. Through her verve and impish smile, we see what the next generation will look like and how he has left the right kind of mark. Alan Arkin is the only one who could make the role as good as it was, and it remains his best.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
