Picked up after a well-received showing at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE is a low-budget comedy about a family road trip from Albuquerque to California. The story begins when young Olive (Abigail Breslin) is given a shot at the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant, and manages to coerce her family into driving west in their worn-down VW van. Olive's father, Richard (Greg Kinnear), takes charge of the trip, while her mother, Sheryl (Toni Collette), brother Dwayne (Paul Dano), uncle Frank (Steve Carell), and eccentric grandfather (Alan Arkin) all come along for the ride. What follows resembles a budget-stricken version of PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: seemingly endless (and hilarious) mishaps befall the family as they wind their way across the country. Couple this with the witty interplay between a well-drawn set of dysfunctional characters, and that's the LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE formula in a nutshell; all the audience needs to do is sit back and enjoy the ride. The grainy texture of co-directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris's film may initially startle viewers unaccustomed to the indie film world. But its a testament to the cast and crew's efforts that the limitations imposed on the filmmakers are long forgotten by the end of the film. Any concerns about visual murkiness give way to belly laughs and bemusement as the road trip ends and the beauty pageant begins. Likely to have a broad appeal, Dayton and Faris's film resembles a version of NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION directed with the pithy eye of Todd Solondz (WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE), and it's to the movie's credit that it manages to successfully marry these two seemingly disparate worlds. -- DVD

4 out of 5 stars!   Little Miss Sunshine 2010-09-28

If you are avoiding this film because you think you will see a lame beauty contest for little girls, don't be fooled by the title. While this movie is about a totally dysfunctional family driving about a thousand miles to enter a child in a beauty pageant, the contest serves just as a focus point for the story. The real entertainment lies within the family itself. And what a family it is. Headed by a man who lectures people to find the winner inside of them, we have a father trying to sell a nine-step theory to success. Unfortunately, he practices what he preaches, much to the dismay of his household, consisting of his foul-mouthed, coke-snorting father; his nervous, chain-smoking wife; his gay, out of work, suicidal brother-in-law; his non-talking, self-disciplined son who claims to hate everyone; and his sweet, loving, seven year old daughter, whose only fault is her addiction to beauty pageants. Being the most rational of them all, it's of course, the little girl who is responsible for bringing this clan together. She doesn't have that much difficulty achieving this because in spite of their exterior, there is hope for her retched relatives. Grandpa really loves his family and isn't afraid to tell them at various times in his own way. Mom is a little passive, yet she says the right things at the right time. The uncle is quick to bond with the kids in spite of his own troubles. The big brother is very intelligent and eventually comes around, and Dad somehow manages to get his daughter to the contest on time. While parts of it reminded me of vacation, the plot was surprisingly unpredictable, and the brilliant cast made these eccentric characters real enough to sustain the most far-fetched situations. It had the right combination of elements: enough drama for conflict, enough sentiment to bond the characters, and lots of humor to carry it through.
          -- Maureen R. Tagliaferro Middlesex, NJ United States

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