Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine is a 2006 American comedy-drama directed by the husband-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.

The dysfunctional Hoover family drive across the country in an unreliable Volkswagon T2 Microbus to California, where its youngest member, Olive (Abigail Breslin), can compete in the annual "Little Miss Sunshine" beauty pageant.

As it turns out from the journey, Olive seems to be the least flawed of the family--probably because she's only seven. Olive's overworked mom, Sheryl Hoover (Toni Collette), is married to a motivational speaker, Richard (Greg Kinnear), who banks the family's well-being on a book deal that falls through; Dwayne (Paul Dano), Sherry's son from another marriage, vows to stay silent for months until he becomes a pilot, only to find out he is colorblind; Sherry's brother, Frank (Steve Carell), is a homosexual Proust scholar who attempts suicide after a failed relationship; Richard's uninhibited father, Edwin (Alan Arkin), dies midway through the film due to a heroin habit.

Somehow, the family makes it to California, and Olive's climactic dance at the pageant is bittersweet, if nothing else.

Given its budget of $8 million, Little Miss Sunshine was a huge success, grossing over $100 million worldwide. Critics reacted positively to the "quirky" film, praising the "gracefully written" script and "poignant" performances.

Of the many awards it received, Little Miss Sunshine won the "Best Feature" Independent Spirit Award, as well as "Best Original Screenplay" honors at the Oscars and BAFTA Awards. Alan Arkin won "Best Supporting Actor" awards at both those ceremonies as well.

The film remains one of the biggest (and most successful) deals made in the Sundance Film Festival's history.