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Little Miss Sunshine
Directors: Valerie Faris, Jonathan Dayton
Actors: Abigail Breslin, Greg Kinnear, Paul Dano, Alan Arkin, and Toni Collette
Rated: R (Restricted)
Retail Price (not our price): $19.98
Release Date: 2006-12-19
Theatrical Release Date: 2006-08-18
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Run Time: 103 minutes
Format: Array
Format: Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1


Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) Amazon.com
Pile together a blue-ribbon cast, a screenplay high in quirkiness, and the Sundance stamp of approval, and you've got yourself a crossover indie hit. That formula worked for Little Miss Sunshine, a frequently hilarious study of family dysfunction. Meet the Hoovers, an Albuquerque clan riddled with depression, hostility, and the tattered remnants of the American Dream; despite their flakiness, they manage to pile into a VW van for a weekend trek to L.A. in order to get moppet daughter Olive (Abigail Breslin) into the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. Much of the pleasure of this journey comes from watching some skillful comic actors doing their thing: Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette as the parents (he's hoping to become a self-help authority), Alan Arkin as a grandfather all too willing to give uproariously inappropriate advice to a sullen teenage grandson (Paul Dano), and a subdued Steve Carell as a jilted gay professor on the verge of suicide. The film is a crowd-pleaser, and if anything is a little too eager to bend itself in the direction of quirk-loving Sundance audiences; it can feel forced. But the breezy momentum and the ingenious actors help push the material over any bumps in the road.-- Robert HortonBeyond Little Miss Sunshine More Dysfunctional Family Comedies More films from the stars of Little Miss Sunshine More Independent Films Turned Sleeper HitsStills from Little Miss Sunshine

2) Description
Take a hilarious ride with the Hoovers, one of the most endearingly fractured families in comedy history. Father Richard (Greg Kinnear) is desperately trying to sell his motivational success program...with no success. Meanwhile, "pro-honesty" mom Sheryl (Toni Collette) lends support to her eccentric family, including her depressed brother (Steve Carell), fresh out of the hospital after being jilted by his lover. Then there are the younger Hoovers?the seven-year-old, would-be beauty queen Olive (Abigail Breslin) and Dwayne (Paul Dano), a Nietzsche-reading teen who has taken a vow of silence. Topping off the family is the foul-mouthed grandfather (Alan Arkin), whose outrageous behavior recently got him evicted from his retirement home. When Olive is invited to compete in the "Little Miss Sunshine" pageant in far-off California, the family piles into their rusted-out VW bus to rally behind her?with riotously funny results.

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5

1) Help me! I'm dying!!!   [Rating: 1 out of 5]
I looked through my pile of unwatched DVDs looking for something bright, original and warm. You have got to be kidding! Little Miss Sunshine is vile, hateful and is populated with NOTHING but cardboard stereotypes. I was hoping for characters that were quirky but ultimately loveable. The screenwriter and director think that pornography, the F-word uttered in front of a 7 yr old and yelling arguments are "hillarious" as some reviewers have deemed this film. I was looking for something bright and truely insightful and funny with the viewing of this film. Instead it made me physically ill not so much because it was such an ugly hateful film but because so many people have bought into the hype of whatever other people tell you is good is therefore good. Very, very disturbing...

2) junk, garbage, better as a rental.   [Rating: 1 out of 5]
NOt worth the money. I actually sat through it and I hated the plot. It's just stupid.

3) Deeply Enjoyable and Entertaining, 2 Sep 2007   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
Plot: The highly stressed Hoover clan are taken aback by seven-year-old ugly duckling Olive's (Breslin) determination to compete in a beauty pageant. Circumstances force them cross-country in a beaten-up VW van to be united by absurdity, disappointment and loss in one weird bonding experience. My Review: There are a great many things to be said about 'Little Miss Sunshine', the obvious thing to note is that this tiny gem takes the typical family road movie to unhoped-for heights of hilarity and humanity. With all that heart stuff thrown in. This luscious piece uses the wit of The Simpsons and brass neck of Malcolm in the Middle, to style a venture depicts the satire of modern life and family value. Unlike any other typical family road-trip, this throws away the typical scenario of today's families being to busy and disconcerted with spontaneous journeys all in the name of fun. This film shows a family's ability to accumulate all their qualities for the cause of a loved one. It literally depicts the announcement, the drop-everything you're doing, and run like hell! The result? Defies expectation, the story takes us on a loving and painfully recognisable emotional life. Our family fun-filled and emotionally rolling roller coaster road-trip takes the Hoover family's mobile misadventure quick bound situation evokes every family road trip comedy ever. The script is a real turnover, it happens to be a first from the writer. It is a smart, feeling original that exerts a fascination all its own and continually catches you off guard. Full of eccentric characters that have a family resemblance to those quirky remnants of indie flicks including your own family. Personally, a funnier version of Grandpa in this film could not be funnier. We have Dad Richard (Greg Kinnear), the obsessive winner, a worsening motivational speaker whose slick mottoes ill conceal his anxiety. Our hero Mum Sheryl (Toni Collette) is the expanded full-time calming-things-down while suppressing a wild rage and apprehension. Troubled teen Dwayne (Paul Dano) has taken a vow of silence, while lovable and appalling old coot Grandpa (Alan Arkin) has been kicked out of his nursing home for snorting heroin, funny what elders get up to. Uncle Frank (Steve Carell) suicidal, and no medical insurance means he's been tossed out of the psych ward into the depth of his family. And Olive (Abigail Breslin) gets the chance to strut her stuff like the Barbie-influenced kid she can be. Little Miss Sunshine is a pageant in itself. A family overcoming their annoying idiosyncrasies and personal arduous problems, trying to better themselves for the appearance of their family for a competition, contrasting with the posturing freakishly overgrown Barbie dolls in the pageant. Of how one's 'real-self' can shine given the right opportunity. It strikes the right tone in every mood shift and keeps the focus on startlingly credible, sympathetic human beings. The comedy-with-heart never gets lame or drippy. Verdict: Enlightening, uplifting, sharp and witty. It really does put a smile on your face. 8.5/10.

4) What was all the hype? Do you people live in isolation tanks??   [Rating: 2 out of 5]
I share the views of all the disappointed viewers, but not that this is unrealistic or depressing. The trouble is it's too much like real life - most of us have dysfunctional families, embarrassing moments, thwarted dreams, bad diets (at times) etc etc. I don't get paying to see 2 hours of people simply demonstrating moments we've all lived, when we go on and try to make life more than just those awful memories. It gets 2 stars 1) because I think I have had a pretty great life, so this just picks up on the bad bits but I'm not going to give even the bad bits of my life only 1 star and 2) because the embarrassing dance at the end was unexpectedly hilarious (but the whole film I kept thinking What is the grandfather teaching her, why isn't one of her parents checking?!). I am Australian, I am supposed to be proud of anything with Australians in it, and I really admire Toni Collette, but I really do not get why most of you are willing to pay to see this and then rave about it - hey, send me the cost of the DVD and I guarantee I can probably send you a postcard far more entertaining than this film!

5) Put this on your MUST SEE list!   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
What a great movie! Little Miss Sunshine brings to light the quirks in everyday life that we all experience but seldomly reflect on. The characters remind us of people in our lives, people we've met, and people we hope we never meet. This movie is fantastic if, for no other reason, because it accurately conveys how truly bizarre and human nature is. Definitely the best movie of 2006.