Family Takes Unconventional Road Trip to Discovery

Rating: Null/10 (3 June 2011)

In Little Miss Sunshine, then ten year old Abigail Breslin plays seven year old Olive Hoover in the 2006 film. In Little Miss Sunshine, the Hoover family typically define dysfunctional; a father (played by Greg Kinnear) who has become so absorbed in his own motivational program that he no longer can tell when his business life ends and when his family life begins, a heroin snorting grandfather (played by Alan Arkin), a brother who refuses to speak until he reaches his goal of becoming an air pilot (played by Paul Dano), an uncle(played by Steve Carell) who tries to fight his inner demons by attempting suicide, and a loving mother caught in the middle of all of this (played by Toni Collette). Olive is a cute seven year old with her sights set on becoming the newest Little Miss Sunshine so much, that she mimics pageant winners on television. Complications dictate that the family has to make the trip from Albuquerque, NM together in their nearly run-down, yellow VW bus to Redondo Beach, CA where the pageant is to be held. Drama, tragedy and comedy accompany their trip, leading them on the path to each of their own self discovery.