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. Mea... more »nwhile, "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.« less
Had some funny moments but talk about some common themes just running this in the ground!
Sharon F. (Shar) from AVON PARK, FL Reviewed on 10/6/2022...
I guess my family was dysfunctional because I found this to be a normal family having issues! Very funny movie.
0 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Mark H. (djmark) from MONTEREY PARK, CA Reviewed on 10/16/2020...
Filled with sardonic surprises and and a few shocks, but plenty of laughs.
Little Miss Sunshine takes you on a road trip in a VW bus with a bad starter. A road trip I took in real life when my little sister had a VW bug. Great gags and some tear jerky moments as well as great music, must love Rick James.
0 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Michel D. (michelann) from WALNUT GROVE, MO Reviewed on 10/13/2017...
Many have called this family “dysfunctional” but it can be argued that these are the “normal” folks just a bit under stress. There is the matriarch of the tribe in grandpa (Alan Arkin) who is so delightfully crude and vulgar, a reject from a retirement home and does not give a whit what the others think. The teenage boy is nearly catatonic…. What teenage boy isn’t at some point in his young life? Then Steve Carrell is the brother with suicidal tendencies after his lover rejects him. About the only sane one is the young girl, Olive, well played by Abigail Breslin, who has big dreams of superstardom and for whom this trek is put into play. Heading to California to enter the Little Miss Sunshine Contest they are crammed together in an old VW bus with problems of it’s own. Hilarious results just kinda happen and who’s family wouldn’t probably react the same way?
1 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Jennifer D. (jennicat) from ST AUGUSTINE, FL Reviewed on 12/30/2014...
I did not like this movie. I thought it was boring, this dysfunctional family was not funny to me. After reading so many good reviews, I must have missed it.
1 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Julie A. from AUSTIN, TX Reviewed on 2/23/2014...
Loved this movie! Feel good movie about family loyalty!
1 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Kristian L. (Katomine) from PRESCOTT, AZ Reviewed on 9/12/2013...
This movie is just wow... you think your family is dysfunctional? Then you will probably enjoy this film. It is hilarious and just wrong on so many levels.
5 of 6 member(s) found this review helpful.
Jefferson N. from BLAIRSVILLE, GA Reviewed on 6/29/2012...
Little Miss Sunshine is a movie that is praised in almost every circle...and for good reason...It's awesome! A lot of movies that receive this much praise are just people just jumping on a bandwagon to look cool. Not the case at all with this one. This is one of those rare movies that if you just happen to pass flipping channels, you'll end up sitting there watching it again even if you've seen it a dozen times before.
The plot is about a dsyfunctional family that is trying to make things come together for at least one member of their unit by taking the youngest family member to a beauty pagaent. Of course, this is hindered by everyone's hangups...Dad is a perfectionist who is trying to keep a failing career afloat...Mom is trying to keep her marriage afloat...Their son is an emo kid who has taken a vow of silence and hates his family...Mom's brother (played by Steve Carell) is depressed over his failing life and failed suicide...And Grandad is a hateful guy that only shows affection to his grandaughter by trying to help her with her pagaent dreams. They all go on a road trip and havoc ensues. This is a classic road trip comedy...that actually stays fun throughout. You don't feel it bogs down like some similar films from the past. This movie is full of great actors and actresses and launched the careers and comebacks of several of them. If you haven't seen this film, what are you waiting for...Watch it! And if you have...Watch it again!!!
3 of 4 member(s) found this review helpful.
Sheryl H. from ST AUGUSTINE, FL Reviewed on 2/7/2012...
VERY SWEET
2 of 5 member(s) found this review helpful.
Brad S. (Snibot) from DALLAS, TX Reviewed on 1/2/2012...
One of the funniest movies of recent cinema.
First Alan Arkin is simply awesome. He really puts on a performance here that kept me in stitches. Abigail Breslin as always is simply fantastic, she is adorible and funny - she can deliver a line like very few child actors. Greg Kinnear delivers another solid performance as well. I really love the VW Van - nostalga I guess, I feel like it is an unmentioned character in the film.
There are very few parts in this movie that gave me a chance to catch my breath, and my sides and cheeks hurt when it was finished.
This movie may not be for everyone, but the people who like it will want to keep it. If you don't like laughing then you should stear clear of this film ... it kind of reminds me of a tickle torture.
2 of 5 member(s) found this review helpful.
Movie Reviews
Interesting but Lame Ending
Jiang Xueqin | Toronto, Canada | 07/19/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
""Little Miss Sunshine" is about a perfectly dysfunctional family who for whatever reason decide to drive from New Mexico to California so that the young daughter Olive may participate in a competition where seven-year old girls must prove themselves perfect. The father is trying to make it as a motivational speaker, and each time he speaks he sounds like an infomercial. The grandfather is an aggressive cocaine addict who decides he cannot end his life until he offends everyone on the planet. The son takes a vow of silence, and his silence, along with all those push-ups and chin-ups, makes him violent and angry all the time. The uncle is the nation's foremost Proust scholar, and decides to emulate the great writer by screwing up his life and almost taking it. Even the family van has temper tantrums and erratic behavior.
"Little Miss Sunshine" is supposed to be funny and quirky, but it's really disturbing and annoying. We are captive in the family van as this irksome family goes on the road, and it's like we're being held hostage to their eccentricities. "Little Miss Sunshine" is just too much "The Office" meets "Family Ties.""