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Little Miss Sunshine

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Little Miss Sunshine

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• Comedy
• Drama

• 2006
• Jonathan Dayton
• 98 mins
• 15

Summary

Oscar-winning road-movie comedy starring Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell and Toni Collette. When his seven-year-old daughter has the opportunity to appear in a California beauty pageant, strung-out father Richard embarks on an eventful journey by road in his VW van. Also along for the ride are Richard's dysfunctional family, in particular his foul-mouthed, heroin-abusing father.

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Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Stella Papamichael

Greg Kinnear leads the dysfunctional Hoover family on an eventful road trip from New Mexico to California in this sparkling indie comedy. He plays an increasingly desperate motivational speaker whose seven-year-old daughter (Abigail Breslin) has been invited to compete in the "The Little Miss Sunshine" beauty pageant. Also along for the ride, in a clapped-out VW van, are his wife (Toni Collette), father (Alan Arkin), son (Paul Dano) and brother-in-law (Steve Carell). Every role is brilliantly cast, but it's a toss-up for best performance between Kinnear, Arkin (who won an Oscar as a foul-mouthed, junkie pensioner) and Carell - star of The 40 Year Old Virgin - who delivers a more wily turn here as the suicidal Proust scholar. Co-directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris make an impressive feature debut, skilfully balancing the broader humour (involving mislaid porn and a stashed corpse) with genuinely touching family drama. Occasionally the movie does feel self-consciously quirky, but the pageant scenes in which Breslin struts her stuff are disarmingly funny and bold. This clever swipe at America's obsession with beauty and success will leave you beaming.

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7.8/10

How to watch

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Streaming

• ITVX
• Disney+
• Apple TV+
• Sky Store

Credits

Cast

rolenameRichardGreg KinnearFrankSteve CarellSherylToni ColletteGrandpaAlan ArkinOliveAbigail BreslinDwaynePaul DanoKirbyWallace Langham

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Crew

rolenameDirectorJonathan DaytonDirectorValerie Faris

Details

Theatrical distributor

20th Century Fox

Released on

2006-09-08

Languages

English

Guidance

Swearing and drug abuse.

Available on

DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Colour

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