Little Miss Sunshine
Academy Award × 2
Rent/Purchase
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.
What critics thought
Little Miss Sunshine won over the majority of critics with its ensemble performances and sharp dark comedy, but a vocal minority found the dysfunction-as-quirk formula too calculated to be moving. The divide was real: where admirers saw a film that earns its warmth, detractors saw a collection of carefully assembled indie-film types pushed through a predetermined emotional arc.
“this startling and irresistible dark comedy counts as one of the very best films of the year”
Michael Medved·MedvedMovieMinute
“walking, talking catalogs of screenwriter index-card data”
Owen Gleiberman·Entertainment Weekly
“rickety vehicle that travels mostly downhill”
Jim Ridley·The Village Voice
“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.”
Liam Lacey·The Globe and Mail
“a winning blend of sophistication and silliness”
Stella Papamichael·BBC News
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Cast & Crew
DirectorJonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
StarringGreg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin
ComposerDeVotchKa, Mychael Danna
Little Miss Sunshine
Academy Award × 2
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.
What critics thought
Little Miss Sunshine won over the majority of critics with its ensemble performances and sharp dark comedy, but a vocal minority found the dysfunction-as-quirk formula too calculated to be moving. The divide was real: where admirers saw a film that earns its warmth, detractors saw a collection of carefully assembled indie-film types pushed through a predetermined emotional arc.
“this startling and irresistible dark comedy counts as one of the very best films of the year”
Michael Medved·MedvedMovieMinute
“walking, talking catalogs of screenwriter index-card data”
Owen Gleiberman·Entertainment Weekly
“rickety vehicle that travels mostly downhill”
Jim Ridley·The Village Voice
“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.”
Liam Lacey·The Globe and Mail
“a winning blend of sophistication and silliness”
Stella Papamichael·BBC News
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Cast & Crew
DirectorJonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
StarringGreg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin
ComposerDeVotchKa, Mychael Danna
Rent/Purchase