Little Miss Sunshine [Blu-ray]

Director: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris Jonathan Dayton

Overview

When a pudgy, bespectacled seven-year-old, Olive (Abigail Breslin), voices her desire to take home the coveted Little Miss Sunshine crown at an upcoming beauty pageant, her wildly dysfunctional family sets out on an interstate road trip to ensure her a clear shot at realizing her dreams in former music video directorial team Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' quirky feature debut, starring Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, and Toni Collette. Despite early career success as an outspoken motivational speaker, family patriarch Richard (Kinnear) continues to cling to his "Refuse to Lose" philosophy, much to the chagrin of his increasingly annoyed spouse, Sheryl (Collette). Add into the mix a Nietzsche-reading teenage son (Paul Dano) who has taken a vow of silence until he finds his fate as a fighter pilot; a horny, heroin-happy grandfather (Alan Arkin) with a penchant for creative profanity; and a suicidal genius (Carell) and Proust scholar still reeling about losing both his male lover and his MacArthur Foundation genius grant -- and the stage is set for a road trip in which sanity is sure to take the back seat.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/03/2009
UPC:	0024543563556
Original Release:	2006
Rating:	R
Source:	BUENA VISTA HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound]
Language:	English
Time:	1:42:00
Sales rank:	1,203

Special Features

Do You Wanna Talk? Gag scene; On the Road with the Hoovers: The Making of Little Miss Sunshine featurette; "We're Gonna Make It..." A session with Mychael Danna and DeVotchka featurette; Who are the Hoovers featurette; No One Gets Left Behind: The music of Little Miss Sunshine featurette; 4 alternate endings with directors' commentary; Directors' commentary by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris; Screenwriter's commentary by Michael Arndt with directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris; "Till the End of Time" performed by DeVotchKa from the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack; Webisodes; Poster gallery; Deleted scenes

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Greg Kinnear	Richard Hoover
Toni Collette	Sheryl Hoover
Steve Carell	Frank Hoover
Paul Dano	Dwayne Hoover
Abigail Breslin	Olive Hoover
Alan Arkin	Grandpa Edwin Hoover
Bryan Cranston	Stan Grossman
Beth Grant	Pageant Official Jenkins
Mary Lynn Rajskub	Pageant Assistant Pam
Marc Turtletaub	Doctor No. 1
Jill Talley	Cindy
Brenda Canela	Waitress
Julio Oscar Mechoso	Mechanic
Robert O'Connor	Pageant Judge No. 1
Gordon Thomson	Larry Sugarman
Matt Winston	Pageant MC
Chuck Loring	Convenience Store Proprietor
Justin Shilton	Josh
Steven Christopher Parker	Teen Boy No. 1
John Walcutt	Doctor No. 2
Paula Newsome	Linda
Dean Norris	State Trooper McCleary
Wallace Langham	Kirby
Lauren Shiohama	Miss California
Jerry Giles	Funeral Home Worker
Geoff Meed	Biker Dad
Joan Scheckel	Judge
Mel Rodriguez	Officer Martinez
Cassandra Ashe	Pageant Contestant No. 1,Girl in Hallway
Alissa Anderegg	Pageant Contestant No. 2
Brittany Baird	Pageant Contestant
Brenae Bandy	Pageant Contestant
Maliah Hudson	Pageant Contestant No. 3
Erik David	Photographer
Lindsey Jordan	Pageant Contestant
Annabelle Roberts	Pageant Contestant
Melvin Rodriguez	Officer Martinez
Nicole Stoehr	Pageant Contestant
Cambria Baird	Pageant Contestant
Mychael Danna	Composer
Kristen Holaas	Pageant Contestant
Destry Jacobs	Pageant Contestant
Shane Murphy	Pageant Contestant
Sydni Stevenson-Love	Pageant Contestant
Lauren Yee	Pageant Contestant
Alexandria Alaman	Pageant Contestant

Technical Credits

Michael Arndt

Jonathan Dayton	Director
Valerie Faris	Director
Michael Arndt	Screenwriter
Michael Beugg	Executive Producer,Producer
Jeb Brody	Executive Producer,Producer
Albert Berger	Producer
David T. Friendly	Producer
Peter Saraf	Producer
Marc Turtletaub	Producer
Ron Yerxa	Producer
Adam Avitabile	Special Effects
Rick Ash	Sound Effects
Gregg Barbanell	Sound Effects
Kerry Carmean-Williams	Sound Effects
Patrick Cusack	Sound Effects
Andrew DeCristofaro	Sound Effects
Ian Eyre	Special Effects
Kenny Anderson	Stunts
Bart Lipton	Producer
Kevin Maier	Stunts

Editorial Reviews

Arguably the box-office sleeper of 2006, Little Miss Sunshine finds its big laughs by zeroing in on one of the most engaging dysfunctional families ever brought to the screen. At seven years of age, preternaturally ambitious Olive Hoover (Abigail Breslin) is fixated on beauty contests, and she's elated when she qualifies to enter one. For a variety of reasons, getting to the pageant site promises to be a Herculean task the family reluctantly undertakes: Usually optimistic dad Richard (Greg Kinnear) is in the dumps due to business woes; seriously depressed uncle Frank (Steve Carell) is recovering from a suicide attempt; chronically angry brother Dwayne (Paul Dano) has taken a vow of silence; generally supportive mom Sheryl (Toni Collette) worries that Olive is setting herself up for a crushing disappointment; and foul-mouthed grandpa Edwin has a bit of a drug problem. Directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris lavish their attention on the road trip -- a lengthy, obstacle-filled journey that tests the Hoovers and ultimately unites the family behind its youngest member. What makes this modest masterpiece outshine similarly plotted films like National Lampoon’s Vacation is its emphasis on character rather than gags. The acting is of uniformly high caliber, with Carell a standout as a Proust scholar whose reputation and relationship have simultaneously gone down the drain; his is a carefully calibrated and restrained performance. Blending its bite with brains and heart, Little Miss Sunshine comes out a winner.