‎Little Miss Sunshine (2006) directed by Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Little Miss Sunshine

2006 Directed by Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris

A family on the verge of a breakdown

A family loaded with quirky, colorful characters piles into an old van and road trips to California for little Olive to compete in a beauty pageant.

Greg Kinnear Toni Collette Steve Carell Paul Dano Abigail Breslin Alan Arkin Bryan Cranston Beth Grant Wallace Langham Matt Winston Julio Oscar Mechoso Marc Turtletaub Jill Talley Brenda Canela Chuck Loring Justin Shilton Gordon Thomson Steven Christopher Parker John Walcutt Paula Newsome Dean Norris Lauren Shiohama Mary Lynn Rajskub Jerry Giles Geoff Meed Joan Scheckel Mel Rodriguez

102 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Katie ★★★★★ 4

I can't believe this movie simultaneously gave and cured my depression!
Review by DirkH ★★★★

A bittersweet ray of sunshine caught in a yellow van filled with actors who have rarely been better.

It also has one of the best dance routines ever put to film.

There's a lot more to say about this film, but in the end it will always boil down to this:

Watch it, embrace it, love it.

And that I did.
Review by Naughty ★★★★★ 4

You truly can't judge a book by its cover!

I passed this film up time and time again because I had absolutely no interest whatsoever in viewing a film about some beauty pageant for children! If it was the last dvd on the planet I would have still avoided it like the plague!

So my son came home for a visit and lo and behold he brought a movie for us all to watch! When he identified it as Little Miss Sunshine I grimaced on the inside and forced a smile on the outside and feigned interest!

So we sat down, popped it in the player and pretty soon I discovered it was not the horrible film I was expecting!…
Review by lauren ✨🌻 ★★★★★ 4

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

what i say: i'm fine
what i mean: 😭😭😭 you can't fly jets if you're color blind 😭😭😭
Review by Mr. DuLac ★★★★½ 2

You know what? Fuck beauty contests.
-Dwayne

The 2006 indie darling not only holds up 7 years later but is probably better then most comedies coming out today. It's a deceivingly colorful, lighthearted black comedy that takes an honest approach on how families that have already had "life experiences" deal with attempted suicide, drug use, depression and individual delusionment.

The cast couldn't have possibly been better across the board with Alan Arkin and Steve Carell possibly stealing the show. Arkin is able to give the loud attention stealing performance as the crazy yet brutally honest grand father while Carell gives a surprising great nuanced performance as a suicidal gay scholar.

At the center of it all of course you have 10 year old Abigail Breslin as Olive Hoover who is the personification of young innocence. The manner they take the piss out of beauty pageants at the end of this film is simply brilliant.
Review by ellie ★★★★★ 5

As you most definitely know if you've been following me for a while, I never post serious reviews. I have two reasons for that: one, English isn't my first language, and I always fear that my thoughts will translate clumsily. And two, I'm just not a very good writer. Everything I could possibly say has already been said by people who are vastly more eloquent and insightful than me. I feel like nothing I write could possibly ever compare, so I usually just make a quick joke and call it a day.

Lately, I've been feeling so drained and worn out that I can't even manage to watch movies, let alone joke about them. While it's common for me to…

Recent reviews

Review by Mac Harrigan ★★★★

A bittersweet, heartwarming dark comedy. All of the actors were great, every character is interesting, and this thing just oozes indie.
Review by Florencia Malamud ★★★★

Es bastante cheesy pero terminó la película y yo estaba sonriendo así que ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Review by David Aitchison ★★★★½

Little Miss Sunshine is a sweet comedy-drama about a dysfunctional family travelling cross-country to enter the daughter in a beauty pageant.

I'm definitely a fan of these twee indie comedies. They always seem to have much more heart than the usual kind and this one is no exception. The main cast is excellent, with each contributing to the storyline. While there are a lot of funny moments they are quite subtle and a little dark, placing this film more on the drama side. There are also some powerful serious moments involving suicide, the concepts of success and failure, and how to enjoy life.

Overall very highly recommended!
Review by Jacob ★★★★

A film that is both delightful and depressingly dark. It has an incredible cast and I love the score.
Review by Danielle ★★★½

Quirky & happy is such a pleasant genre
Review by mack ★★★★★

oh my GOD
Review by brandi327 ★★★★

A sweet movie about the need for love and acceptance from one's family.
Review by vault ★★★★

Makes me happy
Review by Liam Dillon ★★★★

"A wonderfu, quirky little dark comedy. I loved the cast, script and pretty much everything about it. The blurb on the back of the DVD was way off the mark though and I'm not sure I would have wanted to watch it based on that�"