Little Miss Sunshine

The movie Little Miss Sunshine, shows a wide range of characters. From the little girl, who knows no difference in the world, the sane mother, the bankrupt father, the suicidal uncle, the silent brother to the crazy drug addict grandfather. Although the main role is played by that of the little girl Olive, all of the side actors also portray strong characteristics that are very essential to the overall story. All of the actors/actresses do a spectacular job of playing their specific characters and how they function. An example of this would be the crazy grandpa, who is a crack addict and the whole movie does a wonderful job of acting like one as he’s always giving advice and asking questions. He’s crazy to the audience and yet admired by the audience at the same time for his comical nature.

All of the actors/actresses make us believe in their character. The book The Art of Film Watching states: “the ultimate goal of any actor should be to make us believe completely in the reality of the character” (pg. 319) In Little Miss Sunshine one of the only characters that seem somewhat normal is the mother. She does a great job acting out the mother role and keeping the family in line. An example of this is when they pull over because the son realizes that he can’t become a pilot in the army because he is blind. The mother goes out there calms him down and begs him to get back in the car because Olive needs him. Her mother role is so strong and comforting, and believable. You believe her strong emotional pull to comfort her son and care for how the daughter’s feeling will be affected as well. The uncle played by Steve Carell is done greatly as well. Often times his characters are often similar in the crazy awkward guy, like this movie as well. This would be defined in the books as typecasting, when casting “consigns an actor to a narrow range of almost identical roles.” (pg. 341) He is placed with the family on their journey because he tried to commit suicide. Although he is often an observer to everything going on around them, he has the brains of the group, and remains placid throughout the film. A film review by Jamie Gillies agrees “Carell’s performance as a gay academic is credible and impressive. His surprisingly effective pathos works alongside Dano’s (plays grandpa in movie) struggles as the two sort out life’s troubles.”

The main actor Abigail Breslin, Olive, does a fabulous job. She is a girl who doesn’t know much in life, but the fact that she wants to be a beauty queen. She is a girl who doesn’t notice that her family is crazy, that she is chubby for a beauty queen, not as pretty or rich, but loves her life anyways. This little actress at such a young age captures the character perfectly as she enjoys life for what it is and thinks that what she has around her is normal. An example of this from the film would be when she gives her final dance for the talent show at the end. Everyone in the crowd is disgusted, but she is enjoying her obscene dancing, and going all out. Her family jumps on the stage and begins dancing with her because they want to support her in the dance and protect her from feeling ashamed by the crowd. She doesn’t have a clue what is going on, but instead just enjoys it more. All of her family members in the film would be considered supporting actors in the book as “the support the major roles” (pg. 345). All of these supporting actors enhance her character as a girl who knows no difference in the world because she has grown up with these crazy family members.

This movie is a great movie about one dysfunctional family that although their quirks pulls it together in times of need and supports one another and manages to have a good time. The actors and actresses do a fabulous job to believe their characters, and the overall plot of the movie. Although this movie is different than most films, and tends to be a bit awkward at times, I really enjoyed this movie. It made me laugh, and realize that every family has their problems. I was impressed with the little girl, Olive, in the movie. I admired her character, and wanted things for her to turn out for the best. Although she did not win the little miss sunshine pageant, she had a great time and in the end I was still pleased with how things turned out.


Boggs, Joseph, & Petrie, Dennis. (2008). The Art of watching films. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill College.

Gillies, J. (n.d.). Litte miss sunshine (2006). Retrieved from
http://www.apolloguide.com/mov_fullrev.asp?CID=5929