Little Miss Sunshine [DVD] [2006]

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Total RRP: £57.97
Price For All Three: £19.94

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• This item: Little Miss Sunshine [DVD] [2006] DVD ~ Abigail Breslin

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• Juno [DVD] [2007] DVD ~ Ellen Page

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Amazon.co.uk Reviews
Pile together a blue-ribbon cast, a screenplay high in quirkiness, and the Sundance stamp of approval, and you've got yourself a crossover indie hit. That formula worked for Little Miss Sunshine, a frequently hilarious study of family dysfunction. Meet the Hoovers, an Albuquerque clan riddled with depression, hostility, and the tattered remnants of the American Dream; despite their flakiness, they manage to pile into a VW van for a weekend trek to L.A. in order to get moppet daughter Olive (Abigail Breslin) into the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. Much of the pleasure of this journey comes from watching some skillful comic actors doing their thing: Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette as the parents (he's hoping to become a self-help authority), Alan Arkin as a grandfather all too willing to give uproariously inappropriate advice to a sullen teenage grandson (Paul Dano), and a subdued Steve Carell as a jilted gay professor on the verge of suicide. The film is a crowd-pleaser, and if anything is a little too eager to bend itself in the direction of quirk-loving Sundance audiences; it can feel forced. But the breezy momentum and the ingenious actors help push the material over any bumps in the road. -- Robert Horton

Synopsis
Picked up after a well-received showing at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE is a low-budget comedy about a family road trip from Albuquerque to California. The story begins when young Olive (Abigail Breslin) is given a shot at the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant, and manages to coerce her family into driving west in their worn-down VW van. Olive's father Richard (Greg Kinnear) heads up the trip, while mother Sheryl (Toni Collette), brother Dwayne (Paul Dano), uncle Frank (Steve Carell), and grandfather (Alan Arkin) all come along for the ride. What follows resembles a modestly-budgeted version of PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: seemingly endless--and hilarious--mishaps befall the family as they wind their way across the country. Couple this with the witty interplay between a well-drawn set of dysfunctional characters, and that's the LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE formula in a nutshell; all the audience needs to do is sit back and enjoy the ride. The grainy texture of co-directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris's film may initially startle viewers unaccustomed to the indie film world but it's a testament to the cast and crew's efforts that the limitations imposed on the filmmakers are long forgotten by the end of the film. Any concerns about visual murkiness give way to belly laughs and bemusement as the road trip ends and the beauty pageant begins. Likely to have a broad appeal, Dayton and Faris' film resembles a version of NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION directed with the pithy eye of Todd Solondz (WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE), and it's to the movie's credit that it manages to successfully marry these two seemingly disparate worlds.

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139 Reviews 5 star:  (70) 4 star:  (37) 3 star:  (11) 2 star:  (10) 1 star:  (11)           Average Customer Review 4.0 out of 5 stars (139 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   11 of 11 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Satisfyingly un-Hollywood feelgood movie, 20 Dec 2007 By  Mr. Stephen Kennedy "skenn1701a" (Doha, Qatar) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)       Looking for yet another Rom-com to cheer you up, where you know exactly how it will end...? Apply elsewhere! This is a movie that takes its good time in getting to the feel-good part, but does so with such a compellingly dysfunctional family of characters that you'll feel enriched for staying on board to the end. The stalls are set out from the get go, when we meet each of the principal characters of the family, as different as could be. When the young daughter has a chance to compete in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant (scary that such events exist), they all up and leave en masse in the yellow VW minivan for a memorable road trip. The worldly and outspoken grandpa, the suicidal brother, the relatively normal mother trying to keep the family on track, the father obsessed with success but unable to grasp it himself, the rebelling teenager in a vow of silence.. all are thrown into close proximity for the journey to California. Add a seriously temperamental VW minibus, and the stage is set for some soul searching, reality checks, pathos and humour. As a comedy, this is certainly no exercise in hilarity or slapstick.... but it will leave you smiling, and it WILL leave you talking about it after the DVD is back in the case.. what better compliment could there be. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   26 of 28 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars this movie cheered me up when I least expected it, 15 Jul 2007 By  Thomas Moore (London, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This is a story about about a pretty screwed up family. The young (not very pretty) daughter gets selected as a stand-by entry into a child pageant and the family set off to get her there on time. Lots of silly things happen along the way. While all families are not like this, there are elements here that most will recognise. And while the movie is about the personal development of all the characters (for the better), it is really just a very funny movie at heart. So don't take it too seriously, enjoy the movie and expect to laugh out loud. Especially at the end. Best movie I've seen in ages. Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   73 of 81 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars "Don't apologize. It's a sign of weakness.", 20 Dec 2006 By  M. J Leonard "MikeonAlpha" (Silver Lake, Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    In a movie with some of the most beautifully drawn characters I've seen in a movie this year, Little Miss Sunshine proves that being a success in life often comes from deep within the heart and that love can come where you least expect it. It doesn't take long to figure out that dysfunction is the order of the day in Hoover family of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Grandpa (Alan Arkin) is a bitter old hippy who swears profusely and does heroin. Dad (Greg Kinnear) has hopes to publish a dreary nine-step program that asks people to banish their inner losers and be winners. Chubby little Olive (a lovely Abigail Breslin) is determined to become a prepubescent beauty queen, the winner of the Little Miss Sunshine. Olive's sullen brother (Paul Dano) wants to join the air force and hasn't spoken for nine months and his uncle Frank (Steve Carell) is America's most renowned Proust scholar who has just tried to commit suicide after his boyfriend dumped him. Leave it to Mom (Toni Collette) the only one of this weird bunch who seems to be grounded yet who gravitates between simmering resentment of her husband and an aching desire to keep her family together. She obviously loves them all but she's too distracted to cook; it's all KFC and Pepsi night after night. But when the cute owl-eyed Olive finds out that she has a serious chance of winning the Little Miss Sunshine contest in California, no one can decide who should go with her, so the whole Hoover bunch piles into a Volkswagen bus so that Olive can take her shot at the crown. Thus begins their wacky road trip, which full of trouble, where death lies just around the corner and some family secrets are better left unsaid. Beautifully acted by this superlative ensemble cast - the timing of all six leads is impeccable - Little Miss Sunshine sort of gravitates between black comedy and a kind of benign sadness. Obviously these are all frustrated people, their lives up until now seem to have peppered with frustrations and disappointments, and none of them have really achieved their dreams, which makes their desire to get Olive to the pageant in time, all the more auspicious. For all the exaggerations in Michael Arndt's script which has been dashingly directed by the husband-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris - the movie comes closer to the truth about the way people really live - on the edge of fantasy-driven desperation - than any other film to be released in recent years. Perhaps this is why the film has managed to touch so many hearts. Obviously, the beat-up and broken down old Volkswagen is a metaphor for this family, who when we first meet them seems to be breaking apart at the seams. Yet they seem to struggle along and cope, even though, as with they're likely their means of transport, only the third and fourth gears are functioning. Their trip is indeed peppered with many disappointments, but in the process they do indeed discover what it really means to be a family. Mike Leonard December 06. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 139 customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars One Of Happiest Movies Of All Time. When I heard about this film, and how it's supposed to cheer you up, I didn't really think it could. I was wrong! Read more Published 28 days ago by Ms. K. L. Olive 5.0 out of 5 stars A must see. No DVD collection is complete without Little Miss Sunshine. One of the best films ever, in my opinion. Charming and funny, it's a gem - don't miss out. Published 1 month ago by Sharp J 5.0 out of 5 stars Quirkily funny Great indie film, peopled by a cast of left-field characters, who you can't help but fall in love with. Published 2 months ago by anonymous 2.0 out of 5 stars not worth buying This is not even the type of film I would watch on TV...... enough said Published 2 months ago by jeffde 5.0 out of 5 stars simply amazing....... Just go out and watch this film, it is sad, funny, moving and just brillaintly cast with new stars and some very well known people. dont have a bad point about it. Read more Published 2 months ago by C. M. Platford 3.0 out of 5 stars 9 hellish steps to redemption This is a funny and touching movie with a sharply observed script and fine performances from all the cast. Read more Published 3 months ago by sft 4.0 out of 5 stars Sheer cinematic comfort food This is a hoot. Not especially mind-blowing or revolutionary. Simply a damn fine feel-good movie that is consistently funny throughout in spite of its many unbelievable and... Read more Published 3 months ago by Chintan Nanavati 5.0 out of 5 stars Great Film This film, i thought was hilarious, i dont normally enjoy comedys that much but this was very good, its soundtrack is also very good, one of the main things i liked about this is... Read more Published 3 months ago by Matthew Thomas 1.0 out of 5 stars Funniest comedy of the year by a mile??? This seriously has to be one of the most boring non funny comedies ever! I even feel cheated of paying £3 for it in the supemarket bargain basket! Published 3 months ago by Salsaguy 3.0 out of 5 stars Warm hearted Not as funny as I was made to believe. Some brilliant laugh out loud moments with a heart warming moral. Published 4 months ago by C. Fooks Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 139 customer reviews...

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