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Little Miss Sunshine

Play trailer 2:26 Poster for Little Miss Sunshine R 2006 1h 42m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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91% Tomatometer 216 Reviews 91% Popcornmeter 250,000+ Ratings
The Hoover family -- a man (Greg Kinnear), his wife (Toni Collette), an uncle (Steve Carell), a brother (Paul Dano) and a grandfather (Alan Arkin) -- puts the fun back in dysfunctional by piling into a VW bus and heading to California to support a daughter (Abigail Breslin) in her bid to win the Little Miss Sunshine Contest. The sanity of everyone involved is stretched to the limit as the group's quirks cause epic problems as they travel along their interstate route.
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Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine

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Critics Consensus

Little Miss Sunshine succeeds thanks to a strong ensemble cast that includes Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Alan Arkin, and Abigail Breslin, as well as a delightfully funny script.

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Critics Reviews

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Namrata Joshi Outlook 01/24/2019
3/4
The best thing about American cinema is that besides the studio-assembled big ticket movies, there's also the flourishing indie film movement which keeps throwing up some delightfully refreshing movies. Go to Full Review
Brian Tallerico UGO 03/24/2007
It doesn't exploit its characters for comedy or life lessons; it simply embraces the family members and lets them be themselves. Go to Full Review
Melissa Anderson Time Out 02/03/2007
2/6
All indie-movie families may start out unhappy in their own way, but by the time the final credits roll, everyone remains complacent, confident of their brood's superiority. Go to Full Review
David Nusair Reel Film Reviews 07/03/2023
4/4
...a continuously engrossing endeavor that gets off to a memorable (and instantly-captivating) start... Go to Full Review
Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com 09/14/2020
3.5/4.0
The best film of 2006. Go to Full Review
Leigh Paatsch Herald Sun (Australia) 08/11/2020
4/5
The most unlikely (and effective) feelgood movie you might ever see. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Hope P @hopepink 2h So good. The performances and characters are phenomenal. See more K G @KatyG-S 8h The movie about a family of feelings. The movie was never always what I could expect to be about. Family members with their own issues & their 1 girl, Olive, wanting to be a pageant queen, the Little Miss Sunshine. I just really enjoyed the dynamics of everybody - Frank was injured by his lover, no wonder his sister, Sheryl, must look after him alongside her own family. It seems everybody is sympathetic. Dwayne could be a favourite to many, especially that he could not speak up; you could even relate to him when he went out, wailing, which was because he was colourblind, meaning he could not land his dream job, a pilot. We also have this trope, when things do not go how you always wanted yet it is OK, Olive did her performance, which she learnt from her grandfather (who put his corpse into the trunk (well hilarious)), her family knew to join in & care when it got panned. Now, she was banned from entering in California. We love movies with drama which yet can be well entertaining. See more Anabel C @RT66117608 3d Saying this movie was spectacular in every way is an understatement. I went through the 5 stages of grief while laughing along the way. I didn’t just watch this movie I experienced it. All I can say is WATCH THIS MOVIE! See more Scraping G @ScrapingGunk 3d i love this movie, ive watched it over 60 times, ive lost track. everytime i watch this movie it makes me so happy. also every actor in this movie perfectly fits their character!! 10/10 See more Vixo S @vixo_six Jul 15 Little Miss Sunshine finds warmth in failure without turning its characters into simple lessons. Its humor is sharp, awkward and often absurd, but the comedy never erases the sadness beneath it. The ensemble works beautifully because every performance brings a different form of frustration, insecurity or disappointment, while still making the family feel believable. What stayed with me most is its rejection of the idea that personal value depends on winning. The film understands that people can fail, lose direction and disappoint one another without becoming unworthy of love. Some viewers may consider it perfect, and I am not entirely sure I would go that far, but its emotional honesty, memorable humor and compassionate message make it easy to recommend and revisit. See more H G @User27484 Jul 12 Such a beautiful movie with emotional depth paired with dark humor makes such a good combo! I wish there was a little more depth with Steve Carrel's character had more depth but I thought the amount of character development we got was great. I just really liked his character and would love to see more. I enjoyed his dynamic with the son who took a vow of silence. It was done so well. It played with many different themes which was so cool. Olive's character was also great i felt so sad for her and the way she was treated. PLEASE WATCH THIS MOVIE See more Read all reviews
Little Miss Sunshine

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Movie Info

Synopsis The Hoover family -- a man (Greg Kinnear), his wife (Toni Collette), an uncle (Steve Carell), a brother (Paul Dano) and a grandfather (Alan Arkin) -- puts the fun back in dysfunctional by piling into a VW bus and heading to California to support a daughter (Abigail Breslin) in her bid to win the Little Miss Sunshine Contest. The sanity of everyone involved is stretched to the limit as the group's quirks cause epic problems as they travel along their interstate route.
Director
Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Producer
Marc Turtletaub, David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf, Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa
Screenwriter
Michael Arndt
Distributor
Fox
Production Co
Big Beach, Bona Fide Productions
Rating
R (Language|Drug Content|Some Sex)
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 20, 2006, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Jul 26, 2006
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 2, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$59.9M
Runtime
1h 42m
Sound Mix
Dolby