Starting in the summer of 2006, I started to hear and read mostly positive things about Little Miss Sunshine, an independent movie that seemed to come out of nowhere. The movie managed to become very popular and even went on to receive several award nominations, including four Oscar nominations. I had debated a little on if I wanted to see the movie or not and finally ended up renting it recently.

The Hoovers weren’t an average family. Sheryl brought her brother Frank to stay with them after his suicide attempt. He husband Richard couldn’t get anyone to buy the motivational success program he’d developed. His dad was foul mouthed and had managed to get himself kicked out of his retirement home because of his wild behavior. Sheryl and Richard’s son Dwayne had taken a vow of silence and seven-year-old Olive wanted to be a child beauty queen. Olive was thrilled when she found out she could go to the national Little Miss Sunshine pageant in California. The entire family ended up heading off in an old VW bus.

Little Miss Sunshine wasn’t a typical family comedy. The family had several problems and complications to deal with during the trip. Even without the drive to California, they had problems to deal with, some of them very serious. There were some very serious and even a few dark moments in the movie. I thought that the serious things were handled well though other viewers may feel differently. It can be tricky for a movie to successfully blend humor in with more serious plot elements and many movies have failed trying it. Little Miss Sunshine succeeded in my opinion. The balance between the serious and funny worked well throughout the movie. In addition having subject matter that might bother some viewers, the movie was full of swearing, including multiple uses of the word that rhymes with luck, which led to the movie being rated R. This movie isn’t family friendly and definitely not something that children should see.

Little Miss Sunshine included some twisted humor that won’t appeal to some viewers. I ended up thinking the movie was very funny, but I have liked other movies with twisted humor before. People that don’t care for that type of humor should pick a different movie. The way the family members interacted with each provided a lot of humor. The VW bus did end up adding some complications to the trip and led to some very funny scenes. Frank was shown running in some scenes and just seeing the way that he ran made me laugh. Several things ended up making me laugh just because they were so twisted and bizarre. Some people might think that this movie would end up being just like National Lampoon’s Vacation since both movies feature a family making a road trip to California. There were some similarities, but there were a lot of differences as well.

The whole purpose for the family making the trip was so Olive could compete in the national Little Miss Sunshine pageant. There wasn’t anything wrong with Olive, but she clearly wasn’t a typical pageant entrant. She was just a normal, average little girl with a very long ponytail who wore large glasses. She had different outfits and a talent though her outfits, hair, and makeup wasn’t as elaborate as what the other entrants had. There was something disturbing about seeing the other young girls with layers of makeup plastered on strut around on stage wearing bikinis and other outfits designed to make them look sexual and innocent at the same time. The Hoovers were the only people that seemed to be bothered by what they were seeing. The same people that saw nothing wrong with the way the other girls dressed were horrified when Olive did her talent because she dared to do something different. Granted, what Olive did wasn’t appropriate considering it was a pageant for young girls, but it really wasn’t appropriate for the other girls to be made up the way they were either. Some viewers could be very bothered by what was shown during the pageant.

The Hoovers weren’t what many people would consider a normal family. Olive seemed to be the most normal one even with her desire to be a child beauty queen. There really wasn’t a lot of development for her beyond the fact that she wanted to be a beauty queen. Abigail Breslin was good in the part. She first appeared in the movie Signs and has been in other movies like Raising Helen, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, and The Santa Clause: The Escape Clause. Dwayne had his own issues with the vow of silence he’d taken. Even with the vow, he seemed more normal and adjusted than some of the others. Paul Dano handled the part well and was able to convey a lot through his expressions.

Sheryl was trying to be supportive of everyone in her family. It was clear that she loved them all even though some of them annoyed or irritated her at times. The part was different from the others I’ve seen Toni Collette play. Richard was trying to sell the success program he’d developed. He really believed in the program even though he wasn’t having any success with selling it. He wasn’t the most likable person when the movie started, but he did go through some changes by the end. Greg Kinnear was good in the part. His father wasn’t a typical grandfather. He swore like a truck driver, used drugs, liked porn, and talked about sex. Alan Arkin was good in the part.

Frank was dealing with a lot after being jilted by his lover. That, combined with things going badly for him with his career, caused him to try to kill himself. The suicide attempt wasn’t shown during the movie, but it was talked about a few times. He was just sort of quietly observing everything that was going on around him when he first got to the house with Sheryl. He did seem to handle everything that went on during the trip well. Steve Carell was wonderful in the part and completely believable as a depressed gay man that had attempted suicide. Before seeing this movie, I don’t think I would have thought of him playing a more serious role since he became so well known for his more comedic parts like the ones he played in The 40 Year Old Virgin, Bewitched, Bruce Almighty and Over the Hedge.

Main Cast

Alan Arkin - Grandpa
Abigail Breslin - Olive
Steve Carell - Frank
Toni Collette - Sheryl
Paul Dano - Dwayne
Greg Kinnear - Richard

Directed by Jonathon Dayton and Valerie Faris

DVD Information

The DVD for Little Miss Sunshine has the widescreen version on one side of the disc and the full screen version on the other side. There really weren’t many extras on the disc. There were commentaries with the directors and the screenwriter that I didn’t listen to. There was a music video for one of the songs from the soundtrack. There were also four alternate endings. During the first one, the commentary with the directors automatically played, so it wasn’t possible to hear what the characters were saying. The directors did explain why they didn’t use that ending. For two of the other alternate endings, there was text on the screen explaining what would have been going on. The last two were similar, with the last one having some added explanations through the text. I think the ideas for the last two endings were very funny.

Little Miss Sunshine was a very entertaining, unique movie that I really enjoyed. Some people won’t care for the twisted humor or the subject matter but I think it is worth watching.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age