Film Review - 'Little Miss Sunshine'

Part comedy, part road film, part black comedy, part drama, ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ is a film that covers all the bases. It all starts with Olive Hoover, a young girl obsessed with beauty pageants. In the opening scene Olive is seen staring at the television, watching a pageant. We are then shown the rest of the Hoover family: her unsuccessful motivational speaker dad, her overwhelmed mum, junkie grandad, depressed Uncle, and her mute brother Dwayne. This opening scene around the dinner table clearly defines the family dynamic and sets the tone for the rest of the film.


The entire family embarks on a road trip to get Olive to a beauty pageant in time to compete. Along the way a series of events unfold, painfully for the characters but entertaining and funny for the audience.

What makes this film so great is the acting; all the actors know their characters and you see everything on their faces, the love and the pain.

‘Little Miss Sunshine’ won two Academy Awards for ‘Best Original Screenplay’ and ‘Best Supporting Actor’ for Alan Arkin.


The Movie Club will be screening 'Little Miss Sunshine' on Wednesday 12 July, 6pm sharp at Narellan Library. Tea, coffee and biscuits provided, BYO snacks are more than welcome. Stay after the screening for a short discussion about the film. See the discussion questions to get some ideas.