A Dysfunctional Family finds Common Ground in Supporting a Girl and Her Dreams

Rating: 9/10 (24 January 2007)

A innocent little girl of a dysfunctional family seeks to pursue her dreams of winning "The Little Miss Sunshine" pageant amid the personal woes of a Grandfather with a drug problem whom was kicked out of a retirement home, an Uncle whom has come to stay in the wake of a suicide attempt over a failed gay relationship and loss of his job, a brother whom uses the teachings of a great philosopher to avoid his family and set his sites on an improbable Air Force career, and two parents whom are battling with their own problems which includes a Father whom is on the outer fringes of dreams of success, and a Mother whom acts as a referee for the rest of the family to help all get along and having no time for herself or goals of her own.
In an impromptu chance to compete in the pageant, Olive finds her rather fractured family come together to support her and her dream while being able to forget their own problems along the way as they make a mad dash from New Mexico to California. Her dream becomes their dream of sorts, and common ground is found as they rally around Olive to compete.
It's a movie that touches the heart, brings laughter, some pain, and reveals the human condition on many fronts while never losing the message of hope and how a little girl's own dream can unite a family when all the odds are against them.