Little Miss Sunshine

The Sundance crowd-pleaser Little Miss Sunshine is 'œone of those movies that veteran moviegoers complain they don't make anymore,' said Duane Byrge in The Hollywood Reporter. It's a charming, character-driven tale that appeals to all ages. Greg Kinnear plays Richard, a high-strung motivational speaker and the head of the Hoover family. His quirky clan includes Sheryl, his bitter wife; Dwayne, their teenage son, who refuses to speak; and little Olive, a chubby, bespectacled girl who is nonetheless a finalist in the Little Miss Sunshine contest. After an initial family dinner scene, it's a rollicking road-trip movie, said Jack Mathews in the New York Daily News. Much of it takes place on and off Interstate 40, as the Hoovers wheeze across the country to the pageant in their VW Bus. Its humor as well as its pathos is drawn from their 'œcross-wired relationships.' What binds these misfits together is familial love, 'œwhich comes out in surprising, effective ways.' Abigail Breslin nearly steals the film as Olive, said Dana Stevens in Slate.com. She's not adorable in the way Hollywood kids too often are, but cute 'œthe way real kids are: unpredictable, vulnerable, resilient, and tender.' One could complain that the film's portrayal of pageants is not quite accurate, but that would be churlish, given that the film 'œgets you where you want to go.'

Rating: R

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