Little Miss Sunshine

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Little Miss Sunshine

90% Liked It
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Little Miss Sunshine

Abigail Breslin, Alan Arkin, Greg Kinnear, Paul Dano, Steve Carell

The Hoover family treks from Albuquerque to the Little Miss Sunshine pageant in Redondo Beach, California, to fulfill the deepest wish of 7-year-old Olive, an ordinary little girl with big dreams. Alo...( read more  read more... )ng the way the family must deal with crushed dreams, heartbreaks, and a broken-down VW bus, leading up to the surreal Little Miss Sunshine competition itself. On their travels through this bizarre landscape, the Hoovers learn to trust and support each other along the path of life, no matter what the challenge.

Id: 10891201

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Little Miss Sunshine Recent Reviews
  • magnum32004
    January 22, 2008
    magnum32004
    A film that blends laugh-out-loud comedy and a lot of heart.
  • Deano78
    September 28, 2009
    Deano78
    A great little comedy about a dysfunctional family making a road trip to a beauty pageant. Along the way all sorts of bizarre things happen. A great feel good comedy film.
  • SirPant
    August 27, 2009
    SirPant
    A great film with superb acting from all the cast that deserved it's huge success!
  • Passenger1986
    June 23, 2009
    Passenger1986
    Ah, the little film that could. Honestly, who could have seen just how far this film would go?

    A quaint little dramedy about a slightly dysfunctional family consisting of mother Sheryl (Toni Collette, who gets an A+ here); father Richard (Greg Kinnear, nice fit for this movie);...( read more) grandfather Edwin (Alan Arkin, dynamite dialogue he delivers); uncle Frank (Steve Carell, doing what so many comedic actors before him have done and showing they can do drama so damn well); son Dwayne (Paul Dano, who I see having a future with this line of work); and last but by no means least, Olive (Abigail Breslin, who fills me with hope that young actors/actresses can avoid Disney-like drivel and out-act not just their peers but some older performers too).
    Each has their own problem to work on, ranging from quitting smoking to recovery from a suicide attempt and each character grows on their trip to California.

    Though every performance is applause-worthy, the two that stand out to me are Steve's and Abigail's. Steve is better known for his comedic roles, like The 40 Year Old Virgin or on the American version of The Office (though at the time of filming this, he wasn't as well known). So to see him play Frank, who's just coming off a suicide attempt and wondering what his purpose in life is, it just adds dimensions to what Steve can do.
    And as for Abigail, she's utterly adorable in this role. Completely innocent yet mature for her age, she really did well here. She was in no way annoying, nor did the writers bog her down with anything saccharine to play on our sympathies (Full House would do something like that, which would be a major factor as to why it's rarely looked at fondly in today's world).

    In fact, the dramatic moments and tone of the film are played naturally. No overly sad music to tug at out heartstrings, no slow motion deaths to shock us (well, there is one that perhaps shocks but in the right way). At the same time, for a comedy, it's more of a chuckle comedy, as opposed to "laughing out loud, smack your knee" style, which works well. Nothing is overplayed, it's all rather sweet with amusing moments to break up the slightly depressing parts (like Richard and Sheryl arguing in their hotel room over "The Nine Steps).

    While there are a few messages one could take away from this film, the one that resonates with me is that the end result of a journey often isn't as important as the journey itself (slight spoilers coming up)
    Olive's overall goal is to enter a beauty pageant (which gives us our title) and she has been practicing her dance moves with her grandfather. The family travels to California to help her achieve her dream and go through various mishaps and such. At the end, Olive performs her routine but due to its risque nature (of course, she has no idea, due to her age), she doesn't win. In fact, the whole family is told the matter will be dropped if they never enter Olive in another beauty pageant in California again.
    Considering how they were arguing at the start of the movie, it really is nice to see them bond over Olive's dream at the end. I'm glad she didn't win, because it really reinforces the idea of a journey often having more benefits than the goal at the end of the journey. The self-discoveries, the epiphanies, the bonding, the fun. Had she won, this might all have been forgotten about and the family might even turn into overly-competitive people.
    Olive gave it her all and really would have made her grandfather proud.
    Everyone grew a little on this trip (with one possible exception, you can probably see why), familywise and individually.

    Truly a great ensemble. Well done, everyone.
  • organgrinder136
    June 1, 2009
    organgrinder136
    when watching the trailer or reading up on the plot it comes across as some silly made for kids movie but it isn't that at all. it's quite adult. quite realistic as well. every member of the family has issues or problems and can't express themselves properly around the rest of th...( read more)e family. the ending was genuinely a surprise. i couldn't have guessed what the little girl would do on the stage. i don't think anyone else could have either! it's almost the same as alot of these family orientated movies with a message in it somewhere and alot of laughs along the way but it's got some black humour in it too and that makes it worth seeing. a weak four in my opinion but still a four
  • smootysveen
    January 4, 2010
    smootysveen
    "You do what you love, and fuck the rest." It's insights like this, together with some great dialogue sequences and a busted clutch that make Little Miss Sunshine the best movie I've seen at the theaters in a while.
  • tanyasievert
    January 4, 2010
    tanyasievert
    I didn't like this movie
  • DutchCrow
    January 4, 2010
    DutchCrow
    One of my favorite movies of the last decade. Parts of feelgood, drama, hilarious humor combined into a memorable movie with great characters, awesome conversations and quotes you'll remember forever. The scene with the 'conversation' between the grandpa and Dwayne is the best in...( read more) my opinion.
  • SaraJanz
    January 1, 2010
    SaraJanz
    I love every moment of this movie. If ever I need to see a good movie, this is the one I turn to. The cinematography, the script, the acting. It's all so good.
  • aisling09
    December 30, 2009
    aisling09
    this is a very funny film and is reccomended to watch
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