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88 Minutes Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Little Miss Sunshine
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MPAA 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)
| GENRE(S): | Comedy | Drama |
| WRITTEN BY: | Michael Arndt |
| DIRECTED BY: |
Jonathan Dayton
Valerie Faris |
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: December 19, 2006 Theatrical: July 26, 2006 |
| RUNNING TIME: | 101 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: | USA |
Received 4 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.
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...
The average user rating for this movie is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 338 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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.
Alfy T. gave it a10:
Wonderful film and good film. I have not seen film like this. I liked Olive very much.
Opal J. gave it a10:
This is my all-time favorite movie. The acting is great, the storyline is touching and hilarious, and the characters are hilarious though realistic. Yes, you might not find a family like this in the real world, but it's a MOVIE. And a great one at that.
Tania gave it a3:
Mystifyingly bad. Oh, how I wanted to like it. Cliched characters assembled on a screenwriters factory line, with nary a breath of life in them (save Breslin, lovable without ever being cloying), a plot creakingly contrived from start to finish. Not one moment of this film rang true (ok, one - the sweet scene where Alan Arkin's 'foulmouthed grandpa' - i imagine this is what he was dubbed in the screenplay - assures Breslin's wannabe beauty queen that she is beautiful. Really - and this is the film at its most touching.), nevermind tickled the funny bone. Replete with gaping holes in character motivation/ development you could drive a truck through (the son wants to be a fighter pilot, so he took a vow of silence. This leads us conveniently to 'funny,' furious scribbling in a notepad, ' i hate everyone'. Teenage angst has never been so subtle!). Even the supposedly laugh-out loud finale felt heavy-handed and like a desperate, mean, and inexplicable ploy for laughs. Finally, it just felt so slight - at film's end, a great big shrug is all I could muster.
Rick W gave it a2:
There was little humor in this film, in my opinion. I'm all for suspending some disbelief, but how did the daughter's "talent presentation" qualify her for some regional pageant? And how am I supposed to warm up to a family where the parents are so unbelievably (literal use here--I couldn't believe it for a second) that they left her in the hands of the vulgar and inappropriate grandfather, or that they failed to shut the old coot up or even react to his profane rants? If that's a "best picture" candidate, somebody hand me a novel -- quick.

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