Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
18 Aug 2006 ● English ● 1 hr 41 mins
This offbeat contemporary family drama revolves around the ups and downs in the life of the eclectic members of the Hoover family. Richard (Greg Kinnear) is desperately trying to sell his motivational success program... with no success. Meanwhile, "pro-honesty" mom Sheryl (Toni Collette) lends support to her eccentric family, including her depressed brother (Steve Carell), fresh out of the hospital after being jilted by his lover.
Then, there are the younger Hoovers - the seven-year-old, would-be beauty queen Olive (Abigail Breslin) and Dwayne (Paul Dano), a Nietzsche-reading teen who has taken a vow of silence. Topping off the family is the foul-mouthed grandfather (Alan Arkin), whose outrageous behavior recently got him evicted from his retirement home.
When Olive is invited to compete in the "Little Miss Sunshine" pageant in far-off California, the family piles into their rusted-out VW bus to rally behind her - with riotously funny results.
Cast: Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette
Crew: Jonathan Dayton (Director), Valerie Faris (Director), Tim Suhrstedt (Director of Photography), Mychael Danna (Music Director)
Rating: U/A (India)
Release Dates: 18 Aug 2006 (India)
Tagline: Where's Olive?
Did you know? Bill Murray was the original choice to play Frank. The second choice was Robin Williams. Read More
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as Richard Hoover
as Frank Ginsberg
as Sheryl Hoover
as Olive Hoover
as Grandpa Edwin Hoover
as Pageant Official Jenkins
as Diner Waitress
as Stan Grossman
as Convenience Store Proprietor
as State Trooper McCleary
as Larry Sugarman
as Cindy
as Doctor #2
as Mechanic
as Josh
as Miss California
as Doctor #1
as Pageant Assistant Pam
as Pageant MC
as Dwayne
as Linda
as Teen Boy #1
as Kirby
Production
Production Company
Executive Producer
Distribution
Distributor
Writers
Screenplay Writer
Camera and Electrical
Director of Photography
Music
Music Director
Sound
Foley Artist
Sound Re-recording Mixer
Sound Mixer
Boom Operator
Casting
Casting Director
Costume and Wardrobe
Costume Designer
Editorial
Editor
Makeup and Hair
Makeup Artist
Stunts
Stunt Coordinator
Film Type:
Feature
Language:
English
Colour Info:
Color
Sound Mix:
Dolby Digital, DTS, Sony Dynamic Digital Sound
Frame Rate:
24 fps
Aspect Ratio:
2.39:1 (Scope)
Stereoscopy:
No
Taglines:
Where's Olive?
A family on the verge of a breakdown
Everyone just pretend to be normal
Welcome to Hell
A family on the verge of a breakdown
Everyone just pretend to be normal
Welcome to Hell
Movie Connection(s):
Reference: Main Zindagi Hoon (Hindi)
Filming Locations:
Goofs:
Revealing Mistakes
While driving down highway, at one point police car escort can be seen out the back window of the van.
Revealing Mistakes
When Dwayne and Frank are going to bed and Dwayne writes "welcome to hell" on his notepad, his writing motions only spell out "welcome to" and then he flashes the notepad to Frank.
Revealing Mistakes
Revealing mistakes While driving down highway, at one point police car escort can be seen out the back window of the van. When Dwayne and Frank are going to bed and Dwayne writes "welcome to hell" on his notepad, his writing motions only spell out "welcome to" and then he flashes the notepad to Frank.
Audio/Video Mismatch
After Dwayne learns he is colorblind and runs down the hill, with the family watching, the horn does not honk anymore. Usually the horn is directly connected to the auto battery, and would honk, even if the engine isn't running. The horn will continue after this scene.
Crew/Equipment Visible
When Frank and Dwayne are talking on the pier, Dwayne's microphone wire is visible through his shirt on the left side. Then at the end of the scene, the transmitter is visible under his shirt, also on the left side, under his belt.
Crew/Equipment Visible
After taking grandpa's body from the hospital, you can see the shadow of the camera on the side of the van.
Errors in Geography
The takeout chicken served for dinner at the house in Albuquerque is from Dinah's Fried Chicken. Dinah's only has restaurants in Southern California.
Errors in Geography
It is obvious that most of the movie was shot in Arizona. The family lives in Albuquerque yet a shot of the van driving right after they start out to California shows saguaro cactus, which only lives in southern Arizona, and not anywhere in New Mexico (too cold and high). Even if they did drive south to Las Cruces and foolishly drive 400 miles out of their way and take I-10 instead of I-40 to L.A., there is no way they would be close to the range of saguaro so quickly after starting out.
Errors in Geography
There is a shot of the van driving and a green interstate sign that says I-40 to Los Angeles and then to the right of it 89A South and 89A North Exit Only. It also shows I-17 south to Phoenix. This sign is in Flagstaff Arizona, yet a previous shot showed the van next to an I-10 sign. If you get off on 89A you go towards Glen Canyon Dam. The trees on both sides of the road are ponderosa pines which do not grow anywhere along I-10 in Arizona or California.
Errors in Geography
any shots of the van "driving to LA" show the van actually driving on I-17, the freeway between Phoenix and Flagstaff. If they were starting in Albuqurque there is no reason for them to drive on I-17.
Continuity
When at the motel, Sheryl reads off the three room numbers they are staying in as 11, 12, and 13. When Grandpa and Olive go into their room and shut the door, though, the number reads 208.
Continuity
When Olive approaches her brother as he sits in the field, his legs are crossed/uncrossed between shots.
Continuity
In the first dinner scene where the family is eating chicken, Sheryl pours Dwayne some Sprite. Later when the shot shows the whole table, the bottle is completely full.
Continuity
When Olive and her mom are in the dressing room, we see one little girl wearing a 2-piece suit walking in the background. A few seconds later, the same little girl is walking outside in the hallway in front of Dwayne, wearing a dress.
Character Error
In the first scene in the van, Olive isn't wearing her glasses. Although a viewer could easily say she took them off so her headphone wouldn't make them dig into her head, this was actually a mistake that the directors didn't notice for a very long time.
Miscellaneous
When the woman with the clipboard says "Olive Hoover, two minutes" she leaves but she comes back not even a minute later when she was supposed to give Olive another minute.
Miscellaneous
The uneven participation of the girls during the pageant makes no sense; they seem to mix and match various girls, but all of them do not seem to be present at all events. For instance you never see the first two girls presented on stage again for the remainder of the program. The host says there are twelve girls in the competition, but after the initial introduction, the catwalk routine, you see only six girls in a row on stage, all about the same age/height. They start on one end, and after only two girls' participation, they jump immediately to Olive on the opposite end. Seconds later, after Olive finishes, you see all twelve contestants on stage. During the talent competition, we see new girls never initially shown at the introduction. And why are so many girls, non-participants, dressed up as though ready to compete, in the audience?
Audio/Video Mismatch
When Richard closes the trunk of the van at the hotel, the sound of it closing can be heard a little bit after he actually closes it.
Miscellaneous
When Frank turns the TV on in the motel to try and prevent Dwayne listening to his parents arguing in the next room, President George W. Bush is shown on the TV making a speech. The clip in question is all taken from one sentence of an August 24th, 2001 speech announcing the nomination of Air Force General Richard Myers for the chairmanship of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The clip starts in the middle of the sentence, but as camera angles change it jumps first back to the start of the sentence, and then to almost the end of the sentence. To add further confusion, while this clip suggests the film to be set in 2001, near the end of the movie we see a New York Times Book Review cover listing a June 2005 article, "The Passions of Robert Lowell" - making it unusual for an almost four year old speech to be on television.
While driving down highway, at one point police car escort can be seen out the back window of the van.
Revealing Mistakes
When Dwayne and Frank are going to bed and Dwayne writes "welcome to hell" on his notepad, his writing motions only spell out "welcome to" and then he flashes the notepad to Frank.
Revealing Mistakes
Revealing mistakes While driving down highway, at one point police car escort can be seen out the back window of the van. When Dwayne and Frank are going to bed and Dwayne writes "welcome to hell" on his notepad, his writing motions only spell out "welcome to" and then he flashes the notepad to Frank.
Audio/Video Mismatch
After Dwayne learns he is colorblind and runs down the hill, with the family watching, the horn does not honk anymore. Usually the horn is directly connected to the auto battery, and would honk, even if the engine isn't running. The horn will continue after this scene.
Crew/Equipment Visible
When Frank and Dwayne are talking on the pier, Dwayne's microphone wire is visible through his shirt on the left side. Then at the end of the scene, the transmitter is visible under his shirt, also on the left side, under his belt.
Crew/Equipment Visible
After taking grandpa's body from the hospital, you can see the shadow of the camera on the side of the van.
Errors in Geography
The takeout chicken served for dinner at the house in Albuquerque is from Dinah's Fried Chicken. Dinah's only has restaurants in Southern California.
Errors in Geography
It is obvious that most of the movie was shot in Arizona. The family lives in Albuquerque yet a shot of the van driving right after they start out to California shows saguaro cactus, which only lives in southern Arizona, and not anywhere in New Mexico (too cold and high). Even if they did drive south to Las Cruces and foolishly drive 400 miles out of their way and take I-10 instead of I-40 to L.A., there is no way they would be close to the range of saguaro so quickly after starting out.
Errors in Geography
There is a shot of the van driving and a green interstate sign that says I-40 to Los Angeles and then to the right of it 89A South and 89A North Exit Only. It also shows I-17 south to Phoenix. This sign is in Flagstaff Arizona, yet a previous shot showed the van next to an I-10 sign. If you get off on 89A you go towards Glen Canyon Dam. The trees on both sides of the road are ponderosa pines which do not grow anywhere along I-10 in Arizona or California.
Errors in Geography
any shots of the van "driving to LA" show the van actually driving on I-17, the freeway between Phoenix and Flagstaff. If they were starting in Albuqurque there is no reason for them to drive on I-17.
Continuity
When at the motel, Sheryl reads off the three room numbers they are staying in as 11, 12, and 13. When Grandpa and Olive go into their room and shut the door, though, the number reads 208.
Continuity
When Olive approaches her brother as he sits in the field, his legs are crossed/uncrossed between shots.
Continuity
In the first dinner scene where the family is eating chicken, Sheryl pours Dwayne some Sprite. Later when the shot shows the whole table, the bottle is completely full.
Continuity
When Olive and her mom are in the dressing room, we see one little girl wearing a 2-piece suit walking in the background. A few seconds later, the same little girl is walking outside in the hallway in front of Dwayne, wearing a dress.
Character Error
In the first scene in the van, Olive isn't wearing her glasses. Although a viewer could easily say she took them off so her headphone wouldn't make them dig into her head, this was actually a mistake that the directors didn't notice for a very long time.
Miscellaneous
When the woman with the clipboard says "Olive Hoover, two minutes" she leaves but she comes back not even a minute later when she was supposed to give Olive another minute.
Miscellaneous
The uneven participation of the girls during the pageant makes no sense; they seem to mix and match various girls, but all of them do not seem to be present at all events. For instance you never see the first two girls presented on stage again for the remainder of the program. The host says there are twelve girls in the competition, but after the initial introduction, the catwalk routine, you see only six girls in a row on stage, all about the same age/height. They start on one end, and after only two girls' participation, they jump immediately to Olive on the opposite end. Seconds later, after Olive finishes, you see all twelve contestants on stage. During the talent competition, we see new girls never initially shown at the introduction. And why are so many girls, non-participants, dressed up as though ready to compete, in the audience?
Audio/Video Mismatch
When Richard closes the trunk of the van at the hotel, the sound of it closing can be heard a little bit after he actually closes it.
Miscellaneous
When Frank turns the TV on in the motel to try and prevent Dwayne listening to his parents arguing in the next room, President George W. Bush is shown on the TV making a speech. The clip in question is all taken from one sentence of an August 24th, 2001 speech announcing the nomination of Air Force General Richard Myers for the chairmanship of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The clip starts in the middle of the sentence, but as camera angles change it jumps first back to the start of the sentence, and then to almost the end of the sentence. To add further confusion, while this clip suggests the film to be set in 2001, near the end of the movie we see a New York Times Book Review cover listing a June 2005 article, "The Passions of Robert Lowell" - making it unusual for an almost four year old speech to be on television.
Trivia:
Steve Carell, at the time he was cast for Little Miss Sunshine (2006), was a relative unknown in Hollywood. According to an article in Entertainment Weekly, the producers of the film worried that he wasn't a big enough star and didn't have much acting experience. However, between the time the film was shot in the summer of 2005 and its release in the summer of 2006, Carell became a huge success as the star of the high-grossing film The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) in August 2005 and the leading character of the popular NBC Emmy-winning television series The Office (2005), which premiered in March 2005 and for which Carell won a Golden Globe in 2006 for best lead actor in a comedy television series. In the span of just one year, Carell had become such a star that the producers had gone from protesting his casting to tapping him to do prominent promotion for the film.
Bill Murray was the original choice to play Frank. The second choice was Robin Williams.
Abigail Breslin wore a fat suit for the part of Olive.
The "heroin" Grandpa snorts in the bathroom in the beginning of the movie is actually crushed up Vitamin B tablets.
All of the girls acting as participants in the "Little Miss Sunshine" beauty pageant, except Abigail Breslin, were veterans of real beauty pageants. They wore the same costumes, including hair and makeup, and performed the same talent routines as they had in their real-life pageants.
The production crew made sure Abigail Breslin really was listening to music in her headphones to keep her from hearing Alan Arkin's profanity-laced scenes.
Although they are supposed to be mother and son, the difference of age between Toni Collette and Paul Dano is just 12 years.
Bill Murray was the original choice to play Frank. The second choice was Robin Williams.
Abigail Breslin wore a fat suit for the part of Olive.
The "heroin" Grandpa snorts in the bathroom in the beginning of the movie is actually crushed up Vitamin B tablets.
All of the girls acting as participants in the "Little Miss Sunshine" beauty pageant, except Abigail Breslin, were veterans of real beauty pageants. They wore the same costumes, including hair and makeup, and performed the same talent routines as they had in their real-life pageants.
The production crew made sure Abigail Breslin really was listening to music in her headphones to keep her from hearing Alan Arkin's profanity-laced scenes.
Although they are supposed to be mother and son, the difference of age between Toni Collette and Paul Dano is just 12 years.
