Jonathan Dayton’s films with Valerie Faris work best when actors have time to make difficult people recognisable. We rate their patience with an ensemble; the tidy lessons and occasional caution are less persuasive.
Fi1m perspective
In Little Miss Sunshine (2006), Greg Kinnear’s Richard can exhaust his family without exhausting our patience. Toni Collette’s Sheryl gives their arguments a practical weight, while Paul Dano’s Dwayne remains part of the household even when he wants to withdraw from it. We laughed at the arguments because the family need so little encouragement to irritate one another. Dayton and co-director Valerie Faris give each of them enough attention to make that irritation familiar.
Dayton’s directing career is inseparable from his collaboration with Faris. They began in music videos, commercials and television in the early 1980s, making their feature debut with Little Miss Sunshine after years of short-form work. Their use of improvisation and actor input helps explain why the family can feel less neatly arranged than the screenplay makes it. What interests us here is their willingness to let the actors be awkward together without forcing every exchange towards a joke.
The screenplay does not always repay that care. Little Miss Sunshine assigns its characters difficulties rather efficiently, then makes some of the journey too convenient for them. Dayton and Faris keep the family recognisable beneath the eccentricities, but cannot make the familiar lessons about winning and being yourself worth quite so much explanation. The cast make those contrivances tolerable, though we would happily lose some of the instruction.
The later features change the setting and the problem: Ruby Sparks (2012) uses romantic fantasy to examine control and creativity, while Battle of the Sexes (2017) turns to period sports drama. The former gives their ability to keep comedy and darker feelings together more room. The latter suggests the limit of their careful handling: charged material can feel too safely managed. Their television work includes Living with Yourself (2019) and Fleishman Is in Trouble (2022). Begin with Little Miss Sunshine for the arguments and the cast; be prepared for some unnecessary advice about life.
Biography
Jonathan Dayton is an American film and music video director. He was born on 7 July 1957 in Alameda County, California, and attended the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, where he met Valerie Faris. They married and have worked as a directing and producing team since the 1980s.
Dayton and Faris began their careers directing music videos for artists including R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Smashing Pumpkins. Their feature film debut was the road-trip comedy Little Miss Sunshine (2006). They have since directed Ruby Sparks (2012) and Battle of the Sexes (2017), as well as episodes of the series Living with Yourself (2019) and Fleishman Is in Trouble (2022).
