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Little Miss Sunshine | 
 enlarge | Directors: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Actors: Abigail Breslin, Greg Kinnear, Paul Dano, Alan Arkin, Toni Collette
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: Movie
Buy New: $2.99
Rating:  513 reviews
Sales Rank: 290
Genre: Comedy
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: Video On Demand
Running Time: 103 Minutes
ASIN: B000MR1V22
Theatrical Release Date: August 17, 2006
Release Date: November 14, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Synopsis:
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE is an American family road comedy that shatters the mold. Brazenly satirical and yet deeply human, the film introduces audiences to one of the most endearingly fractured families in recent cinema history: the Hoovers, whose trip to a pre-pubescent beauty pageant results not only in comic mayhem but in death, transformation and a moving look at the surprising rewards of being losers in a winning-crazed culture. A runaway hit at the Sundance Film Festival, where it played to standing ovations, the film strikes a nerve with everyone who?s ever been awestruck by how their muddled families seem to make it after all. |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
 Dysfuction at it's finest September 25, 2006
J. Abercrombi (Kobenhavn)
116 out of 145 found this review helpful
"Little Miss Sunshine" is the story of the Hoover Family. Olive (played by the adorable and very funny Abigail Breslin) has just been accepted into the "Little Miss Sunshine" beauty pageant (because of a cancellation) and her family decides to drive through three states so she can make the competition on time. Richard Hoover (played by former Talk Soup host, Greg Kinnear) is Oliver's dad who believes that winning is number one. When Richard tells poor Olive that she shouldn't eat ice-cream (because there aren't any fat Miss America contestants) I thought it was both extremely funny and also equally sad.
Paul Dano played Olive's (very comical) morbidly hate-filled brother, Dwayne. Alan Arkin played the coke-snorting, sex-crazy grandfather. Toni Collette was the kids' mom Sheryl; it was obvious that Sheryl was wrapped way too tight but she really did love her family. And rounding out this ensemble cast is Uncle Frank (played by "Forty Year Old Virgin" star Steve Carell.) Frank came to stay with Sheryl and her family after he recently tried to commit suicide after his homosexual love of interest rejected him.
So the family embarks on a car trip across NV, AZ, and CA in a broken down, old 70's bus (they have to push it to get it started!)
There are so many funny moments in this picture. It was also touching to see Olive put her head on her brother's shoulder to try to cheer him up, and I did suspect at that moment that Dwayne actually didn't hate everyone because he seemed so sensitive.
Anyone that watches this picture will certainly agree that Olive's dance routine was the hit of the entire movie. Olive dances to the tune of the Rick James hit "Super Freak" while prudish Pageant Official Jenkins (played perfectly by one-time "Malcolm In The Middle" star Beth Grant) goes absolutely BERSERK! I don't want to give anything away, but the entire family was involved, a huge scene resulted, and the police were even called!
After watching the first thirty minutes of this movie I thought to myself, "why are these people all together..." ...But I suppose family is whatever you make of it and the Hoover family must have really loved each other to go through all they did and still stay together. Maybe they don't make the same decisions as the "traditional American family" but that's ok because they still find their own happiness.
I reluctantly went to go see this movie after a friend told me how good it was. I protested because it looked totally ridiculous but my friend had already seen it and he insisted that it was a superior picture. And I am so glad that I went because this was one of the best movies I have seen in months. It is dysfunction at it's funniest!
The Hoover Family's Will to Power January 30, 2007
Datius (Planet Earth, Milky Way Galaxy)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
The Hoovers are a thoroughly American family: contentious, ambitious, and extremely short-sighted. Seven-year-old Olive aspires to be a beauty queen, while her brother Dwayne pores over Nietzsche and her uncle Frank recovers from a relationship gone terribly awry. The family centers around Richard, the dad, who is an aspiring motivational guru and has divided the people of the world into a binary code: Winners and Losers. Richard insists that all Winners become Winners simply by persisting in the face of adversity, and that giving up under any circumstances means resigning oneself to eternal Loserdom. The absurd implications of this theory are made evident as the Hoover family struggles to deliver Olive from Albuquerque to Little Miss Sunshine, a beauty pageant in California. Their hilarious and sad trip to the pageant, even sans the rest of the plot, makes this movie worth seeing.
While I'll admit that this fictional family might be more eccentric than many, it certainly isn't more eccentric than my own (and I'm quite serious), so the plot here didn't require much suspension of disbelief from me. Steve Carell stands out here, playing a depressed #1 Proust scholar, but probably 3/4 of the film's charm belongs to Abigail Breslin, who plays Olive. I actually felt worried for her as the bizarre events of the beauty pageant commenced.
I've noticed that many reviewers of this film have completely missed the point of the story, at least as I interpreted it, so I guess I'll go ahead and tell Amazon shoppers what I concluded. This movie is not just about its individual characters: it's about American culture. It's about living in a meritocracy wherein merit is defined as Winning, and Winning is defined as simply persisting in the face of adversity, no matter how irrational or downright self-destructive such persistence becomes. It's about stopping right in the middle of the rat race (or perhaps a military conflict?), taking a deep breath, looking around, and maybe realizing that something isn't right. Those of you who have watched this movie and found the beauty pageant extremely creepy probably already know what I'm talking about. But it should be clear that this story is intended to be satirical: it's making fun of those self-destructive aspects of American culture that prey upon our insecurities, lobotomize our common sense, and turn us into people who obey a compulsion to Win at any cost. And most significantly, this movie is about freeing oneself from those things.
Sunshine is Brilliant September 7, 2006
Kenneth Broadway (Sumter, South Carolina United States)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Little Miss Sunshine is easily my pick for best film of the year. At the same time, I won't say that you've never seen a movie like this one before. It treads familiar territory and dredges up some recognizable character types, like the silent broody teen and the dirty old man, but it doesn't belabor them; instead it reminds us why we find situations and individuals like these so relatable. It's a road trip movie. It's a dark comedy, but it's also something else altogether.
There are sight gags a plenty and some dysfunctional family fun that walks a fine line between trite and genius, but I (and 93% of the critics on [...]) believe that the performances tip the balance in favor of genius. Alan Arkin is extraordinary as the cantankerous, heroin snorting grandpa with a heart. Toni Collette and Greg Kinnear, as the emotionally fatigued married couple, have an onscreen chemistry that threatens to blow up at any minute. (Boo! Kenney, that's such a cheesy line. You can do better.--I know. I know. But I couldn't resist. Watch the movie and you'll see what I'm talking about.) And we all know Steve Carrell can be funny, but who knew he could play tortured too. And here's something that's entirely refreshing: a seven year-old character, Olive, who is more naive than she is precocious, and an actress, Abigail Breslin, who pulled it off realistically. She did more than pull it off really. She sold it, and I bought every tear and toothy grin.
The opening sequence introduces the characters and their particular quirks in a series of one-minute shots, so the audience member knows right from the beginning who these people are and basically what's wrong with them. Most of their backstories are taken care of around the dinner table, and then the movie literally hits the road when the whole family piles into a cheerfully yellow VW bus to take Olive to California, where she has a chance, by way of the only stroke of good luck in the entire script, to compete for the title of Little Miss Sunshine and fulfill her beauty queen aspirations.
The storyline tackles some grim and seedy subjects: divorce, suicide, drug-use, romantic pitfalls, failed careers, and we don't always get to laugh our way through them. With this movie, just like in life, you've got to take the good with the bad. In fact, Little Miss Sunshine accomplishes the nearly impossible and makes us grateful for the tragedies that occur, because that's when we get to see who the characters really are. Like in the case of Dwayne (Paul Dano), the teenage son whose vow of silence prevents him from talking for the majority of the film. We don't even get to hear him speak until he experiences his great disappointment, and it's not long after he starts talking that he reveals himself to be much more affectionate and protective of his little sister than his angry facial expressions let on.
You might start to think that Dwayne's got the right idea when you notice that some of the film's best moments are utterly quiet. Nobody ever says the right thing in this movie. No problems are solved just by talking them out. In fact, most of the time talking just leads to more problems. These characters learn to take action, and they get the job done. While the results--you can't really call them solutions--aren't always satisfactory for them, for the audience they are never less than entertaining or cathartic for that matter.
Be prepared to laugh, hard and often, so much so that you won't see it coming when it's time to cry. I realize that at the beginning of my review I made it sound like Little Miss Sunshine might be borderline cliche, but that was just me anticipating other people's possible complaints, certainly not asserting my own. But regardless of how original you do or don't think this movie is, it delivers some big surprises. Some of them you might see coming, but I highly doubt you could guess them all--just wait until you find out what Olive's talent is!
I hate to use the term dramedy. I choose to think a movie like this one actually collapses genres rather than blends them. But nevertheless Sunshine offers a good mix of strong emotion and light-hearted farce for everyone to enjoy. For all you heady types, there's a healthy helping of Proust and Nietzsche in there. For all you who would prefer slapstick, there's a good dose of that too, along with some pretty funny one-liners as well.
This film has a lot to say about life and disillusionment, expectations and harsh realities, but it says it with a smile and sometimes through clenched teeth. Its message never gets lost in all the absurdity, and it wasn't lost on me either.
The most fun I've had at the movies in a long time! October 2, 2006
A. Knepper (Maryland)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I laughed myself crazy in this movie. There's just as much wit as ordinary humor in this movie. It's observational, and causes you to think about some of the issues raised in the movie -- not political issues, just issues about day-to-day life with people, how we should treat them, and where life will take us. And laughing non-stop the whole time doesn't hurt either. Wonderful acting, absolutely incredible script.
Nothing more to say -- See this. NOW.
Fantastic Film November 27, 2006
atomic (washington, dc United States)
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
More of a drama than a comedy, this poignant film I believe is probably the best movie of 2006. Each of the characters is absurd but oddly believable. Many touching moments. An unpredictable but uplifting ending. Great acting. The little girl could charm a grizzly bear. Despite her external imperfections, her big heart, touching naivete and optimistic attitude will captivate you. I guarantee you will walk out of this movie a better person and with a smile on your face. How many films can do that?
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