Synopsis

No one among the Hoovers quite has it together, but it’s not for lack of trying. Father Richard, a hopelessly optimistic motivational speaker, is desperately attempting to sell his 9-step program for success. The Hoovers pro-honesty mother Sheryl is constantly harried by her family’s eccentric secrets, especially those of her brother, a suicidal Proust scholar fresh out of the hospital after being jilted by his gay lover. Then there are the Hoover kids with their unlikely dreams: the four-eyed, slightly plump, seven year-old would-be beauty queen Olive and Dwayne, an anger-fueled, Nietzsche-reading teen who has taken a staunch vow of silence until he gets into the Air Force Academy. Finally, there's Grandpa Edwin, a foul-mouthed pleasure-seeker recently kicked out of his retirement home for snorting heroin. Then Olive flukes an invite to compete in the "Little Miss Sunshine" competition. The Hoover family rallies behind her. They pile into their rusted-out VW bus and head West for California. It's a journey filled with tragic and comic surprises. But it's Olive’s pageant debut that will change the entire misfit family in ways they could never imagine.

What The Critics Say

"Like "Garden State" or "Sideways", the film uses comedy to find the content in the lives of its characters. "Little Miss Sunshine" is funny, touching, and unexpectedly inspiring." Mike McGranaghan AISLE SEAT "one of the best films I’ve seen all year." Sean McBride SEAN the MOVIE GUY "A very funny and touching family drama about the wisdom that often comes not with success but with failure. This delightful movie takes its place alongside "The Royal Tenenbaums" as one of the best family comedies of all time: in both films, the flaws and the follies of the family members are funny and touching at the same time." Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat SPIRITUALITY AND PRACTICE "I think they create a reality with these idiosyncratic characters. I loved the fact that it’s got a fresh take, it resists cliché, and I think that’s what you get when you get new blood in the cinema. 4 STARS." Margaret Pomeranz ABC AT THE MOVIES "The writing is genius, the performances wonderful, and the film as a whole is a complete success." John Venable SUPERCALA.COM "The first shot of three generations of Hoovers, from Olive and her brother, to Mom and her brother, Frank, to Grandpa, racing alongside a camper gingerly steered by Dad is as side-splittingly hilarious as the zaniest fix the Ricardos ever got themselves in. Remarkably, the visual gag remains fresh and funny the next time." Ruthe Stein SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE "The last act is a spot-on send-up of kids' beauty pageants, a portrayal both proximate to reality and one of the creepiest things I've ever seen." Eugene Novikov FILM BLATHER

"So brilliantly, hysterically perfect that the graceful message beneath it hardly registers: we're laughing so hard we've literally stopped breathing." Rob Vaux FLIPSIDE MOVIE EMPORIUM "This year's Sideways ... both wonderfully amusing and curiously moving." Frank Swietek ONE GUY'S OPINION "The actors play each painfully funny scene as genuinely as possible, without straining for cheap laughs and without losing sight of the Hoovers' humanity." James Sanford KALAMAZOO GAZETTE "Screenwriter Michael Arndt and first-time directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris have made a little gem with this comedy about a dysfunctional family on the road. The performances are uniformly superb, with little Abigail Breslin excellent as the sensible child who mostly keeps her cool while everyone around her goes quietly barmy. 4 STARS." David Stratton ABC AT THE MOVIES "It's the genre's greatest blend of slapstick, sincerity and satire since Albert Brooks' "Lost in America."" Nick Rogers STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER "Despite tackling death and dysfunction, indie comedy drama Little Miss Sunshine radiates warmth and charm." Stella Papamichael BBC

The Inside Story Dysfuntion, misery, tragedy, suicide, death, disappointment and personal failure are subjects many of us do not take lightly, yet thanks to debut screenwriter Michael Arndt and a fictional highly dysfunctional family he has created, cinemagoers will be laughing their heads of at what is one of the best dark comedies in years, "Little Miss Sunshine". Like the Hoover families seven hundred mile journey from Albuquerque to Redondo Beach, getting "Little Miss Sunshine" to the bigscreen took a long five years. Until Michael Arndt's screenplay made it's way on to the desk of producing partners Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa. "Michael sent us the script because he worked on our film "Election". I read it and flipped. "Little Miss Sunshine" was a fresher, darker take on the family road trip movie with a lot of honesty about how families interact with one another," Berger recalls. "Every character in this story undergoes a major transformation , even the family’s VW bus," notes Yerxa. Yerxa and Berger took the script to producing partners Marc Turtletaub and David T Friendly (whose father Fred Friendly was recently portrayed by George Clooney in the film "Good Night, And Good Luck") of Deep River Productions. Both men were impressed by what they read. "I finished reading the script at 1am, put it down, and said we have to make this," says Turtletaub. "My gut feeling told me I had to make this movie. It’s very rare to find a film that really makes you laugh and then turns right around and makes you cry like this one," Friendly adds. In 2004 Marc Turtletaub formed Big Beach Productions with partner Peter Saraf. Their aim was to produce and finance independent film. Marc showed Peter the "Little Miss Sunshine" screenplay. Needless to say they both were enthusiastic about making it as a Big Beach film. "What really stood out to us was that there was something in each of these characters for the audience to relate to," says Saraf. With all the producers agreeing, Big Beach put the film into production in early 2005. The first challenge they faced was finding the right director. As luck would have it, husband and wife directing team Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, already known for their award winning music video and commercials, who had been searching for years for a feature film project to fall in love with read the screenplay. They immediately knew "Little Miss Sunshine" was it. "There were fourteen directors who we considered for this project, but Jonathan and Valerie had such a passionate take on the film right from the start that they immediately won our trust," says Turtletaub, "and they really hung with us through the entire process." Funnily enough, Albert Berger and Yerxa had wanted to work with Dayton and Faris. "We had been looking to work with Jon and Val for a long time. We always had a good feeling about them because their videos had both a visual flair and humanism. They’re cutting edge but they also have wisdom and a heartfelt side," Berger says, "and in the end, I think they couldn’t have been more right for the project." So what exactly was it in "Little Miss Sunshine" that attracted the husband and wife directing team to the project? "We wanted to do something with style, but we loved these characters and that was the most important thing. We wanted the experience to be drawn from what we love most in movies, one that celebrates human eccentricities," says Jonathan Dayton. "The story instantly struck a chord with us," says Valerie Faris. "We had always wanted to make a film that would ride a lot of tones; that would have a strong emotional life as well as lots of humor. We felt that "Little Miss Sunshine" was a story that shifts much in the same way that life shifts, moving from drama to farce to reflection and back to farce again." At this point you'd think everything was running smoothly, but it wasn't. The project kept running into walls, especially because no one wanted to take a risk on a family movie with such a darkly tinged, sardonic wit. It was then that a knight in shining armour appeared. Producer Marc Turtletaub stepped forward to help finance the film out of his own pocket. Above all else, anyone who sees this delectable treat of a film and bathes in the sheer delectation of it, should say a big thankyou to Turtletaub, a man of great wisdom, foresight and generousity. Now it was time to find the right cast. "We needed to find not only six exceptionally strong actors but six actors who would be able to share the screen, and really become a kind of close-knit family in spite of themselves," says Dayton. "We needed the kind of actors who are as truthful as they are funny." The filmmakers went knocking on the doors of their 'dream' cast, and instantly found positive responses. "We had our first choices for every role," notes producer Peter Saraf. First cab off the rank was the character Richard, head of the Hoover family. That role went to Greg Kinnear who recently starred with Pearce Brosnan in the excellent film, "The Matador". "Greg is uniquely able to bring real likeability to even the most unlikable characters," explains Saraf, "so he was perfect for Richard." Kinnear thinks "everyone in this film was attracted to the scripts. You have this family seemingly going on a very simple trip and suddenly you uncover this whole complex family dynamic that leads them towards change. It’s a very darkly funny movie but at the same time it’s also kind of positive and uplifting. It takes unexpected turns that are quite refreshing." When it came to casting the Hoover families one rock, Sheryl, Faris and Dayton went to aussie actress Toni Collette. Both believed Collette had the broad range of comic skills and the ability to bring real depth and honesty to an embattled Middle American mother such as Sheryl. "She’s a world-class actress who has that remarkable ability to bring something special to everything she does," says David Friendly. "I absolutely loved the script and also really loved this dysfunctional family who are just learning to get along for the first time," Collette says."I got completely involved with them. Their frustrations and their yearnings felt very real to me and also quite universal. I found myself laughing and crying at the same time even as I read it." The role of Sheryl's brother Frank went to a actor Steve Carell, who at the time of casting, was a virtual unknown. "Steve’s intelligence as a performer is what sold us," says Dayton. "He’s hilarious but he also can do absolutely anything. He’s kind of amazing that way." In any family, I think there are times when you will detest another person but you can never get away from the fact that you are always connected by blood," says Carell. "I think Frank is initially full of crap. He’s this self-proclaimed expert on Proust who thinks of himself as a great intellectual, yet when he’s faced with real relationships, he’s completely lacking." For both Kinnear and Carell, one highlight of working on the project was the chance to work with veteran stage, screen and television actor, Alan Arkin who plays an outspoken, seventy something heroin addict and porn aficionado who nevertheless serves as an inspiration to his misfit granddaughter. "This was a really fun part to cast," says Dayton. "We’ve loved Alan forever," adds Faris. "For us, working with him was kind of like working with the Beatles." Arkin notes that this is "a great role, because the grandfather is unabashed about everything. He's completely out there, completely out in the open, there’s nothing hidden about him, and that was one of my favorite things about him. He’s a guy who always says what he feels, but what he feels also changes from minute to minute." With all the adult cast members signed on, the team now set their sights on casting for the role of the two Hoover children, Dwayne and Olive. When it came to the role of Dwayne, they found what they were looking for in rising star Paul Dano. The filmmakers were impressed with Dano’s ability to express himself in the nuanced manner of a silent screen star. The deal was sealed for him when he learned more about directors Dayton and Faris. "When I found out they did some of the Smashing Pumpkins videos, which are some of my favorite music videos ever, I knew I wanted to work with them," he says. "I think they’re really talented." As is the young man himself. "Paul was really impressive because he goes way beyond the clichéd angry teen," says Jonathan Dayton. "There was never a false moment from him." And what of his character Dwayne? "I think Dwayne’s someone a lot of people will identify with right away," Dano says. "Everyone goes through a period where they don’t really like their family, but you also know that you will always have some kind of bond with them." To find their seven year old Olive, the filmmakers set out on a big national search. It seemed to be an exceedingly tough bill to fill until they came across Abigail Breslin who made an auspicious feature film debut in "Signs". "We first saw Abigail in an audition tape and then we saw her on Jay Leno," recalls Faris. "What really impressed us is that she was totally unaware of the audience. She had this really intense focus that we knew was perfect for Olive." Breslin describes her character Olive as "really brave. You might not expect her to be a beauty queen but I think she’s actually really cool, because she really believes in herself." As part of the bonding process extra rehersal time was allowed. "We had a whole week together before we shot during which we did lots of improvising with each other," recalls Arkin."We really started to get a feel for how the characters felt about each other and who we were as a family." Part of the bonding process, was an actual 'family field trip'. "We all got into a van, drove for awhile and then had lunch, staying in character the whole time," explains Steve Carell. And was there any difficulty working with two directors? "I had some trepidation about it, initially," says Alan Arkin. "I thought it would double up the amount of direction I was getting. But they were great. They seem to speak the same language and it’s almost like dealing with one person." The Verdict "Absolute first class entertainment. A real gem! You'll be left laughing long after the credits have stopped rolling on the screen. Every cast member is a winner but none more so than Abigail Breslin who steals every scenes she's in from right under her co-stars noses. Only a downright mean-spirited scrooge could find fault with "Little Miss Sunshine", a film so funny it's painful. In fact, you will probably give your tummy muscles such a good workout (while laughing your head off at the dysfuntional, but totally loveable Hoovers), you'll develope a six-pack overnight. Massive laughs. Loads of fun. Top Shelf! 4 1/2 STARS." Cast & Crew Bytes "LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE" stars .......
National Board of Review Award winner Greg Kinnear ["Nurse Betty", "Auto Focus", "Stuck On You" and "The Matador"]; Four Time Australian Film Institute Award winner Toni Collette ["The Sixth Sense", "Dirty Deeds", "The Hours", "Connie and Carla" and "In Her Shoes"]; TWO Time Academy Award nominee and Tony Award winner Alan Arkin ["The Last Mohican", "Inspector Clouseau", "Catch-22", "Edward Scissorhands", "Gattaca" and "The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause"]; Steve Carell ["Bruce Almighty", "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy", "Melinda and Melinda", and "The 40 Year Old Virgin"], Independent Spirit Award winner Paul Dano ["The Emperor's Club", "The King" and "Fast Food Nation"] and Abigail Breslin ["Signs", "Raising Helen", "Keane" and "Chestnut: Hero of Central Park"] as Olive Hoover.
"LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE" was .......
directed by Jonathan Dayton ["Belinda", "The Jim Rose Circus Sideshow", "Red Hot Chili Peppers: Greatest Videos" and "The Check Up"] and Valerie Faris ["Paula Abdul: Straight Up", "Extreme: Photograffitti", "R.E.M. Parallel" and "The Check Up"]; screenplay by Michael Arndt ["Little Miss Sunshine"]; set decoration by Melissa Levander ['The Last Time I Committed Suicide", "What's Cooking?", "Friday After Next", "Catch That Kid" and "Raise Your Voice"]; director of photography by Tim Suhrstedt A.S.C ["The Wedding Singer", "Clockstoppers" and "The Hot Chick"]; production design by Kalina Ivanov ["Naked in New York", "The Big Kahuna" and "Swimfan"] with costume design by Nancy Steiner ["The Virgin Suicides", "The Good Girl", "Lost in Translation" and "Shopgirl"]. Run Time 102 minutes Rated M [AUST] Copyright ©2006 - Fox Searchlight Pictures - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2006 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved