See the trailers we loved this week, including "Veronica Mars" and Frozen II. Presented by Microsoft Surface.
Related lists from IMDb users
Title: Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Abigail Breslin | ... | Olive Hoover | |
| Greg Kinnear | ... | Richard Hoover | |
| Paul Dano | ... | Dwayne | |
| Alan Arkin | ... | Grandpa Edwin Hoover | |
| Toni Collette | ... | Sheryl Hoover | |
| Steve Carell | ... | Frank Ginsberg | |
| Marc Turtletaub | ... | Doctor #1 | |
| Jill Talley | ... | Cindy | |
| Brenda Canela | ... | Diner Waitress | |
| Julio Oscar Mechoso | ... | Mechanic | |
| Chuck Loring | ... | Convenience Store Proprietor | |
| Justin Shilton | ... | Josh | |
| Gordon Thomson | ... | Larry Sugarman | |
| Steven Christopher Parker | ... | Teen Boy #1 | |
| Bryan Cranston | ... | Stan Grossman | |
In Albuquerque, Sheryl Hoover brings her suicidal brother Frank to the breast of her dysfunctional and emotionally bankrupted family. Frank is homosexual, an expert in Proust. He tried to commit suicide when he was rejected by his boyfriend and his great competitor became renowned and recognized as number one in the field of Proust. Sheryl's husband Richard is unsuccessfully trying to sell his self-help and self-improvement technique using nine steps to reach success, but he is actually a complete loser. Her son Dwayne has taken a vow of silence as a follower of Nietzsche and aims to be a jet pilot. Dwayne's grandfather Edwin was sent away from the institution for elders (Sunset Manor) and is addicted in heroin. When her seven-year-old daughter Olive has a chance to dispute the Little Miss Sunshine pageant in Redondo Beach, California, the whole family travels together in their old Volkswagen Type 2 (Kombi) in a funny journey of hope of winning the talent contest and to make a dream ... Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Explore popular movies available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
I saw Little Miss Sunshine a week ago at the Sydney Film Festival, and the audience I saw it with loved it. There was a lot of laughter going on - especially at the hilarious ending. And amidst the jokes it deals smartly with it's theme of the value of chasing your dreams and being one of life's 'winners' versus valuing what you already have. Or put another way, it celebrates the joys of losing in a culture obsessed with winning.
I'm not going to go into detail about the plot, as the film hasn't been widely released yet. There are no huge plots twists, but I think you'll have more fun with this film if you don't know exactly where it's going.
As the film started I wasn't so sure about it. All the characters (apart from Toni Colette's perhaps) seemed to be written as being amusingly quirky in a predictable indie-comedy way. But as the movie went on it became easier to warm to them. I think it helped that the actors appeared to be having genuine fun together. These guys don't feel like much of a family at first, and I wondered a couple of times why these people would bother sticking together, but as things progress the strengths of this particular family unit become obvious. And just as all comedies should, it gets funnier as it goes on. I was pleased to see the script stayed true to it's messages all the way to the end, and didn't turn preachy or maudlin. The whole cast work excellently together, and I hope this film has all the success it deserves once it's released.