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45
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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63
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75
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83
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61
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66
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59
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79
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40
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69
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64
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74
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69
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69
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You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Little Miss Sunshine
EMAILPRINTFox Searchlight Pictures

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 36 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 348 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Drama
Written by: Michael Arndt
Directed by:
Jonathan Dayton
Valerie Faris
Release Date:
Theatrical: July 26, 2006
DVD: December 19, 2006
Running Time: 101 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for language, some sex and drug content
Starring Abigail Breslin, Greg Kinnear, Paul Dano, Alan Arkin, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Marc Turtletaub, and Jill Talley
Little Miss Sunshine is an American family road comedy that shatters the mold. Brazenly satirical and yet deeply human, the film introduces audiences to one of the most endearingly fractured families in recent cinema history: the Hoovers, whose trip to a pre-pubescent beauty pageant results not only in comic mayhem but in death, transformation and a moving look at the surprising rewards of being losers in a winning-crazed culture. (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
TV Guide Ken Fox
What makes husband-and-wife directing team Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' hilarious debut such a great family film isn't that it's suitable for the whole family (it's not), but that it speaks a simple truth about what it means to be part of one.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano
As ambitious, honest and subversive as any American movie since "Election."
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
You won't see a brighter, truer affirmation of the All-American messed-up improvisational family than Little Miss Sunshine.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
While the film itself isn't perfect, who cares about perfection in the face of abundant life, authentic screwiness and lovely surprises by the busload?
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
A raucously entertaining slice of slapstick dressed up as domestic satire.
Read Full Review >Newsweek David Ansen
This indie, a sweet, tart and smart satire about a family of losers in a world obsessed with winning, is an authentic crowd pleaser. There's been no more satisfying American comedy this year.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
It has been a while since we've seen such a consistently funny and entertaining road movie.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Jessica Reaves
Funny, and thoughtful, and deeply, viscerally satisfying.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
It looks at the all-American obsession with winning and chortles darkly. You still come out of the movie wanting to give your family a hug.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
The irony is, this family isn't mismatched: All six bickering characters are connected by empathy as well as blood, and we wait for them to figure that out.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
A prime example of a dysfunctional-family comedy that also doubles as a road movie. Even the vehicle of transport is dysfunctional.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak
In remarkably compact and quietly concise vignettes, we're introduced to each member, and immediately understand what they're all about.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
The film accomplishes a remarkable feat of creative alchemy by breathing life and depth into characters that, in lesser hands, could easily have come across as grating caricatures.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Duane Byrge
A brainy blend of farce and heart, this is one of those movies that veteran moviegoers complain they don't make anymore.
Read Full Review >Variety David Rooney
Pic's distinguished by a flawless cast, a gentle spirit of rebellion and a smart script by first-time screenwriter Michael Arndt that knows never to push its character quirks too hard.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine David Edelstein
Little Miss Sunshine is an enchanting anthem to loserdom -- a dark comedy that piles on setback after setback and yet never loses its helium.
Read Full Review >Slate Dana Stevens
The recent film it most recalls is "You Can Count on Me" (2000), another small treasure about a fractured family that managed to be moving without troweling on the sap.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Schickel
That metaphor is pitch-perfect, but the film works a little too hard at proving the vileness of beauty pageants.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Manohla Dargis
Tucked in between all the hurt and the jokes, the character development and the across-the-board terrific performances is a surprisingly sharp look at contemporary America.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
As scripted by Michael Arndt, this isn't much more than a glorified sitcom, but it deftly dramatizes our conflicting desires for individuality and an audience to applaud it.
Read Full Review >Empire Angie Errigo
Sharp, very funny, surprisingly moving and rejoicing in great work from the entire cast, this sparkling little gem takes the family road movie to unhoped-for heights of hilarity and humanity.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Toddy Burton
The result is a climactic scene that is pretty near perfect: both laugh-out-loud surprising and endearingly inevitable.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
Ultimately, despite flirting with some darker subjects, Little Miss Sunshine lives up to its name.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
A charmer, a comedy with drama -- or vice versa.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar
It's the journey that offers the most enjoyment. Well, that and the beauty pageant climax, which I won't spoil here, but is one of the funniest scenes from film in recent memory.
Read Full Review >Premiere Glenn Kenny
Diverting and often funny enough, largely thanks (as is not unusual in cases like this) to its cast.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Family. Can't live with 'em, can't kill 'em. Little Miss Sunshine, a stormy quasi-comedy destined to polarize audiences, is a perfect specimen of this unsentimental attitude.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
Though Little Miss Sunshine is consistently contrived in its characters' too-cute misery, the conclusion, which is genuinely outrageous and uplifting, is almost worth the hype.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
If you're going to get on the wavelength of Little Miss Sunshine, you've got to be able to enjoy a comedy in which the characters fit into hermetically cute, predetermined sitcom slots.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Jim Ridley
Like the shambling VW van its hapless characters steer from Albuquerque to Redondo Beach, Little Miss Sunshine is a rickety vehicle that travels mostly downhill.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 348 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Michael T. gave it a9:
I am amazed by some of the reviews here. If anyone here trusts user-submitted reviews, I beg you you to ignore any that are full of finger-shaking hyperbole and excessive use of first-year university words. This film is heartwarming, funny and charming. It's one of the few films I will watch when I want to be cheered up. It's Disney for tax-payers.
Francis C. gave it a2:
Although the movie has some good points, there was too much shouting, and the ending was very poor.
SHane M gave it a10:
Epic Film! Pretty funny considering the characters are all like sad!
Troels J. gave it a9:
I mainly love this movie because of the ending. Besides the characters (and the kind of chilled, anticute atmosphere) it's actually pretty much like any other comedy/drama all the way through the movie. But in the end, it just changes - and instead of just being a fairly entertaining movie, it ends up having a great message. Greater than most messages in movies nowadays.
Lisa From Australia gave it a10:
I loved this movie. A simple message effectively delivered. If you like REAL families then you'll love these people.
Michael M. gave it a9:
Some people think they are good critics like Tania and especially Jasper below because they vomit their extended vocabulary on to the computer screen, but they're not. Simply because it is easy to determine a character's personality or psychological state does not mean they are one dimensional or cliched. Acting, cinematography, music, direction in general is all great. Most normal people like this film.
Josh P. gave it a10:
This film captures everything a family's about. Dysfunctional and sometimes very strange but always honest. I feel sorry for you if you can't enjoy this film, it's the best light hearted comedy I've seen in years. Especially since it came out of America.
