The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

I honestly wanted every one of these characters to die. Other ending than that it was going to disappoint me. So. That wasn't the ending. Then, I totally HATED this trash

When this movie came out I saw the reviews, heard the hype, knew it was nominated for top awards and just didn't see the reason for it. It didn't interest me anymore than Juno and I still have not watched that. Probably never will. I do wish I had continued to listen to my intuition, but this movie is on my shelf, having been given to me as a gift somewhere along the way and I happened to see a trailer for it here last night as I was looking at something else, so I thought, what the heck. Maybe. What was I thinking? Definitely not. This movie did not leave me feeling good. It left me actually feeling repulsed and a bit like I needed a shower. There is not much I can say nice about this movie. I'll try. I don't know the young man who played Dwayne (or was it Duane), but I love every other single actor in the movie. They are all wonderfully talented. How anyone could manage to put them together and come away with a movie so jaw-droppingly bad is beyond me. I actually enjoyed Duane's little bit in the movie a bit, but it was only a tiny piece almost unrelated to the story and it wasn't much of a story at all. There isn't much more to say that is nice, unfortunately and other critics have said it all. The jokes are lame and stolen from other shows. The end routine is not funny, it is stomach turning. I was rooting for the horrible lady to shut it down. The grandfather was disgusting and I am far from a prude - but seriously, you left that man alone with your seven year old when he talked like that in front of you with her present? How do you think a man like that talked when the parents weren't in the room? I love Steve Carell, even though I despise his trite sitcom, The Office, (see note) but he had absolutely nothing to work with here. His story was trite and 'Jonah and the Whale tale' unbelievable. Toni Colette probably does ditzy lady better than any comedienne in the business since Carol Burnet retired, but you have got to give her something to work with and though Greg Kinnear's comedic chops are far inferior, he does make a good straight man when he has a good partner. But, again, you have to have an actual script to work with and a director with some respect for the actors he/she is directing. Obviously these actors had neither. A couple of other things: If I have to watch them push that van one more time I think I'll barf. We get it. Enough already. Not funny the first time . But neither was stealing grandpa's body, the cop not noticing it, or six dozen other stupid jokes. And for heaven's sake, you are driving through some of the most beautiful country on earth and all you show is gas stations and asphalt? The cinematography is atrocious. Especially the little girl make up in the end. Yes they wear too much make up. Not that much. Enough rehash of what all this movies critics have already said more eloquently than I can. I hated the movie. I felt bad for Abigail who is a doll. Next time my gut says don't bother; I resolve to remember to listen, even over a decade later. If you've never made the mistake of watching this- Don't. Note: Don't read anything into my not liking The Office. It's just me. I haven't liked a sitcom since Mash except Will and Grace and Third Rock and I only kind of liked both of them. I didn't like W&G well enough to tune back in to the reboot...

When I heard Alan Arkin's name as winner of the Academy Award for Actor in a Supporting Role, I couldn't be more happier. Arkin was well-deserved of this ultimate honor. Arkin played Grandpa who encourages his granddaughter, Olive, in Albuquerque, New Mexico to travel to Long Beach, California to complete in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. Too expensive to fly, they drive in a yellow unreliable van experiencing one adventure after another. It's an enjoyable film overall.

Any other year and I don't think this film gets nominated for a Best Picture award. Heck, a couple that were bypassed by "Little Miss Sunshine" at the 2007 Academy Awards were "The Last King of Scotland" and "Blood Diamond". So right there I have to reassess my first comment and say that I don't know how this picture got nominated in any case. The idea stunned me a decade ago and still stuns me today.That's not to say the picture isn't entertaining. I liked it well enough, although making it a lot more family friendly would have required Alan Arkin's Grandpa to clean things up in the language department. I know what the film makers were trying to do with his character but it seemed off-putting to me. At least Olive Hoover (Abigail Breslin) got to wear the headphones for part of his routine to take some of the edge off, at least for her.So whether it was intended or not, the picture did make a pretty good point of how vapid these beauty contests are for pre-teenage girls. Every one of them besides Olive looked like they were made from plastic with the phony smiles and strutting mannerisms to go with the outfits and the hair-dos. The spray-on tan kid was a bonus. That's why it was so great when Olive went into her dance routine to blow away any pretense of professionalism for the hideous parents who preen their kids at such an early age to be Miss Perfect. I guess you can tell I'm not a fan of the whole concept.Good work here by a nice ensemble cast headed by Greg Kinnear, the motivational speaker who can't land a gig, and his dysfunctional family that actually gets things right every once in a while. The scene of Olive getting her brother (Paul Dano) to come out of his self imposed shell was particularly touching. And there were some good life lessons and revealing insights along the way that one might take heed of. Like sarcasm is the refuge of losers, high school makes for one's prime suffering years, and if you wanna fly, you'll find a way to fly. Some of those don't even require all nine steps.