Jonathon Dayton and Valerie Faris’ 2006 film follows the Hoover family’s road trip to California so seven-year-old Olive can compete in the annual Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant.
A stacked cast comes together to create a family complete with a heroin addict grandpa (Alan Arkin), a wildly competitive dad (Greg Kinnear), an uncle fresh out of hospital for attempted suicide (Steve Carrell), a son who has taken a vow of silence until he gets into flight school (Paul Dano), a gorgeous little girl with her heart set on being the new Little Miss Sunshine (Abigail Breslin), and a mother desperately trying to keep her family together (Toni Collette).
This dysfunctional crowd spends the majority of the runtime packed into a yellow VW bus that, by the end of the film, is missing a door and a clutch but has gained a horn that can’t stop honking, a dead body in the boot, and a family with a newfound sense of togetherness and love for each other.
Michael Arndt’s hilarious and beautifully profound script (for which he received the Best Original Screenplay Oscar), coupled with a collection of stunning performances that both light up the screen and tug on the heartstrings, compelled me to put this film straight into my category of ‘movies that feel like a warm hug’ when I first saw it, and it wasn’t long until this became one of my go-to comfort watches. I would argue that it is impossible to not completely fall in love with this film, and challenge anyone to try and contest this notion. It is in equal measures funny, heart-warming and completely devastating, and manages to simultaneously grapple with and provide nuanced dialogue on mental health, fractured familial relationships, and the quest for self-fulfilment.
Olive steals the show and the hearts of the audience, as she darts around from scene to scene, wrapped up in her dreams of Little Miss Sunshine. Watching it, I couldn’t help but get swept up in her world of childlike wonderment! However, beyond Breslin’s charming performance, I found myself completely invested in each character’s life and personal journey through the film. As Frank (Carrell) bumps into the man he’s hopelessly in love with, and their partner, in a petrol station, I felt every part of his humiliation and heartbreak. When Richard (Kinnear) warns Olive that ice cream will make her fat, I felt the rest of the family’s anger and disapproval. And as they worked together to push the car and get it moving without the clutch, I felt their joy and excitement as they proclaimed “no one gets left behind.”
It really doesn’t take long for you to become so immersed and engrossed in the Hoovers’ lives. Watching their journey to both California, and the journey to becoming a united family, is an absolute pleasure to watch.
The theme of winning is established early on in the film and returns as a motif throughout, as Richard presses Olive to win the beauty pageant, explaining, “there is no sense in entering a contest if you don’t think you can win.” For Richard, winning and self-fulfilment are inextricably linked. Pursuing a dream that doesn’t conclude with being awarded a trophy, a beauty pageant sash, or in his case, a book deal, is pointless. This mindset not only infects his character, but bears a strong influence upon his family. Dwayne’s extreme decision to take a vow of silence until he accomplishes his dream is met with nothing but praise from his father, and Olive’s wish to attend Little Miss Sunshine is tainted by this pressure of winning.
During my personal favourite scene, Olive gets upset as she confesses to her grandpa, “I don’t want to be a loser.” The poignant writing, accompanied by close-up camera shots, captures the unwavering love between a grandfather and his granddaughter perfectly. His response, “A real loser is someone who is so afraid of losing that they don’t even try,” excellently encapsulates the film’s moral message.
Though often farcical and absurd, the events that take place throughout the Hoover family road trip hone in on the cliche that the journey often teaches you a lot more about the destination. By the time Richard reaches Californian turf he has let go of his obsession with winning and is liberated by the knowledge that you don’t always have to be the best at something in order to lead a fulfilled life.
As he sees his daughter on stage ‘losing’ the beauty pageant, he realises that, although it doesn’t fit into his ‘Nine Steps to Success,’ model, Olive is pursuing and living her dream. As he gets on stage and joins her, we are exposed to his disjointed and awkward dance moves; but the fact that he is so awful yet still completely lets go of all his inhibitions is precisely the point, and his body language offers a stark contrast to what we see in the film’s first half. As he dances on stage with his family, it’s clear that self-fulfilment reaches far beyond the book deals, medals, and acceptances to flight school. It can exist as poignantly within the bonds we make and share with the people that we love the most.
Words by Amelia Morgan
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