Purely Joyful Movie!

Best movie of this year hands down!

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

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...

In Albuqerque , a family Sheryl the mother , Richard the fathers is a motivational speaker , Frank the uncle tried to killhimself but failed , Dwayne the son want to join the flight academy and he made a vow of silence, the grandpa is a drug addict and Olive the daughter want to participate at a beauty contest « Little miss sunshine » in California.They go to colifornia with a yellow little bus.The most important in the film is the family and being yourself.We enjoyed the film because it's not boring and it's interesting and really funny all a long the film. We recommend this film for it's actor's performance.

Fox Searchlight's 2006 surprise indie hit 'Little Miss Sunshine' is a film that accomplished one thing more than anything else - it got audiences to feel better about their own families. Set in the American southwest, we follow the Hoover family as they race to Redondo Beach in their VW van to have 7-year-old Olive (Abigail Breslin) take part in the stereotypically scary "Little Miss Sunshine" beauty pageant. Cue the crazy.Between the heroin-addicted patriarch (Alan Arkin), the suicidal uncle/brother (a 'The Office'-era Steve Carrell), a purposely mute nihilistic teen (Paul Dano) and a hopeless, wannabe motivational speaker (Greg Kinnear), it's a lot for the arguably only sane person in the family - Sheryl Hoover (Toni Collette) - to handle. There are so many ridiculous antics that unfold during the 800-mile trek, from their beaten down VW suffering mechanical troubles to an awkward roadside diner breakfast that every family can relate to.What really makes 'Sunshine' work is the writing. Written by Michael Arndt, the quirkiness comes through in every line in the script, without feeling forced or gimmicky. There's also a lot of emphasis on character development - something that's crucial for a film that relies so heavily on an ensemble cast - and the dysfunction almost seems like an art form. It's no surprise the writing resulted in an Oscar for best original screenplay.It may not be the best comedy ever, but 'Little Miss Sunshine' is a fun, zany ride through the challenges of family life and a commentary on the fact that beauty really is skin-deep.

It's an average film that has garnered excessive praise and ratings by a lot of these reviewers. The story is unimaginative and predictable, and the scenes are quite often, boring. I feel as though the ending definitely saved it, but again, still a very average film.But seriously, people on here are going on about how amazing the production, the message, the acting, and everything else was. Sadly, its really, really not the case. There's nothing novel about a dysfunctional family being forced to spend time with each other because of certain circumstances, and certainly nothing new about that very same family coming together by the end, due to a collective realisation of just how important they all are to each other and what really matters in life. The sad or emotional scenes ultimately seem out of place, and delivered in the midst of the monotonous journey to the end destination. I'm not saying that it's an awful film, but there's nothing different or poignant about a film that is clearly supposed to stir some emotions. If you want an uplifting film - watch the intouchables, forrest gump, remember the titans, life is beautiful; you know something different. Not this film that delivers nothing new, nothing powerful, and rarely anything funny or memorable. The ending is quite funny and cute, but is really not that great, and I'm genuinely quite confused about the hysteria in some of these reviews.