History Film / LittleMissSunshine

* BeautyContest: At the end, also a major source of {{Squick}}.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Dwayne and Grandpa.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/NationalLampoonsVacation''.

* WorldOfJerkass: With the exception of Olive, Miss California, and Kirby, every single character is either apathetic, unpleasant, perverted, unbalanced, or all the above simultaneously.

* ChekhovsLecture: A surprisingly sweet subversion. When the family first heads out on the road, they stop at a diner for breakfast and Olive orders waffles a la mode (though she doesn't initially know that it means "with ice cream"). Richard then gives her a long lecture about how fattening ice cream is, and points out that most of the beauty pageant contestants Olive admires are skinny, so they must not eat it. Though the rest of the family is able to coax Olive into having the treat anyway, she's clearly upset by her father's words. Then, at the end of the movie, Olive gets to meet Miss California, one of the pageant judges. She then asks the beauty queen if ''she'' eats ice cream...and Miss California happily tells her that she loves it. The relief on Olive's face about one of her heroes liking her favorite food is palpable.
** As pointed out on the Heartwarming Moments page, it also counts as FridgeBrilliance: Miss California clearly knows why Olive is asking the question, and her kind, honest response is the best advice that she could give the little girl.

* CorruptionOfAMinor:
** Having the kids help them [[spoiler: smuggle a dead body out of a hospital]] can't be healthy.
** Averted in that Olive doesn't hear her grandfather's descriptions of his sex life and [[spoiler: performs her burlesque routine]] completely oblivious to its inappropriateness. Dwayne on the other hand, wasn't as lucky.

* {{Hypocrite}}: The whole pageant. Apparently, it's okay to have preteen girls parade around in bikinis with tons of makeup on, [[spoiler: but Olive's "Super Freak" act is going too far]]. Presumably, it's not okay for [[spoiler: "[[HollywoodHomely fat]]" girls.]]

-->'''Frank:''' I fell in love with someone who didn't love me back.
-->'''Olive:''' Who?
-->'''Frank:''' One of my grad students. I was very much in love with him.
-->'''Olive:''' Him? It was a boy? You fell in love with a boy?
-->'''Frank:''' Yes, I did. Very much so.
-->'''Olive:''' That's silly.
-->'''Frank:''' You're right. It was silly. It was very, very silly.

* NietzscheWannabe: Dwayne, literally.

** Other than his vow of silence, he's fairly reasonable and moderate about Nietzsche and his philosophy, displaying none of the CardCarryingVillain traits often associated with the trope. He only has one rant about how pointless things are and it's delivered right after finding out [[spoiler:his only dream in life is impossible]] (then a hug from his little sister calms him down and he apologizes for lashing out).

* NotInFrontOfTheKid: Before Grandpa advises Dwayne to "fuck a lot of women" with Olive in the car, he makes sure that she doesn't hear anything because she has headphones on. When she takes them off and asks what are they talking about, he responds "politics".
** Fun fact: those headphones weren't just for show. The actress playing Olive really couldn't hear what was being said while she had the headphones on.

* SingleIssueWonk: Richard tries really hard to shove the Nine Steps program into anything he does, no matter how stupid it makes him look. [[DeconstructedTrope The program is lousy, nobody wants it, he has lost way too much in following his dream of selling it, he knows it, and this obsession is a definite example of "fake it 'til you make it" fueled by sheer desperation]].

** However, he does state that the difference between them isn't that winners are inherently better people, but that [[TheDeterminator they never give up]].

** The entire film is allegedly a TakeThat to a speech by Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger in which he claimed to hate "losers."

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
** After his F-Bomb moment, Dwayne delivers one to his family out of anger and frustration. Olive is able to calm him down with a hug and the rest of the family are very forgiving of his hurtful words because they understand how upset he was.
** The book agent delivers a variation of this to Richard [[note]]It's actually more a "Reason You're Not Viable" speech.[[/note]]
* TokenGoodTeammate: Olive to the Hoovers due to ChildrenAreInnocent coming into play. [[spoiler: Kirby, Ms. California and arguably the pageant assistant for the pageant staff.]]

* VocalMinority: In universe example. During [[spoiler: Olive's burlesque routine, majority of the audience and judges are either shocked, disgusted or both. However, there are those who appreciate her guts aside from her family openly that showed their respect and admiration for her efforts]].
* WelcomeToHell: "Thanks, Dwayne. Coming from you that means a lot."

Not to be confused with [[NamesTheSame a certain yellow character]] from the ''Literature/MrMen'' series.

* FiveManBand: The Hoovers.
** TheLeader: Richard, ThePatriarch of the family.
** TheLancer: Sheryl, Richard's wife and the NumberTwo.
** TheBigGuy: Dwayne, aspiring AcePilot who always works out.
** TheSmartGuy: Grandpa, wise and street-smart(ass) DeadpanSnarker.
** TheChick: Olive, the TagalongKid and everyone's MoralityPet.
** SixthRanger: Frank, doesn't live with the Hoover family. Being a teacher, he also fits as TheSmartGuy [[spoiler: and fills the role after Grandpa's death]].

* Dwayne [[spoiler: breaking his silence upon learning he is colorblind and therefore can't become an Air Force test pilot]] is as heartbreaking as the rest of the movie is funny.

* BigWordShout: '''''"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!"'''''

--> '''Frank: '''Who is that? Nietzsche? So you stopped talking because of Friedrich Nietzsche? ...Far out.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: In universe, the Hoovers are seen as [[spoiler: a family that will stick together at worst times no matter what or simply as a shameless family by the audience at the pageant, as well as its staff]].

* BigScrewedUpFamily

* {{Meganekko}}: Olive and her big chunky glasses.

Richard (Creator/GregKinnear), the father, is an aspiring but failing motivational speaker who has plunged all his time and money into his Nine Steps program. His wife Sheryl (Creator/ToniCollette) is a homemaker and mother of Olive and Dwayne (Creator/PaulDano). Dwayne, Sheryl's son from a previous relationship, is a brooding teenager with an obsession with Nietzsche, who's taken a vow of silence until he achieves his dream of becoming an Air Force pilot. Olive is a precocious little girl with a close relationship to her grandfather. Edwin (Creator/AlanArkin), Richard's father, is a dirty, debauched old man with a sharp sense of humor and irony. Rounding out the clan is Sheryl's brother, Frank (Creator/SteveCarell), a bitterly sarcastic scholar who tried and failed to commit suicide after losing his job and the man he loves.

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The trailers for the DVD showed clips from the [[spoiler: the burlesque routine]], which came as a surprise if you saw it in theatres.

* TheVoiceless: Dwayne [[spoiler:at first.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: None of the Hoovers get what they want: Dwayne finds out he can never join the Air Force [[DreamCrushingHandicap since he's colorblind]]; [[BreakTheMotivationalSpeaker Richard's program doesn't sell]], leaving the family's financial future uncertain; Frank's still nowhere close [[FiredTeacher to fixing]] [[BungledSuicide his life]]; [[MentorOccupationalHazard Edwin dies from a heroin overdose]]; and after all the trouble they went through to get Olive to the beauty pageant they drove across three states for in time, [[AllForNothing she doesn't even win it]] ([[PersonaNonGrata and is in fact banned from ever entering any pageants in California again]]). [[TookALevelInKindness But everyone's matured considerably from the whole ordeal]] [[FireForgedFriends and the family is now closer than it's ever been]].]]

''Little Miss Sunshine'' is a [[BlackComedy Dark, dysfunctional]] and wildly hilarious 2006 family {{Dramedy}} about a {{Road Trip|Plot}}, directed by the husband-and-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.

A [[BlackComedy Dark, dysfunctional]] and wildly hilarious 2006 family {{Dramedy}} about a {{Road Trip|Plot}}, directed by the husband-and-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.

->"''A real loser is someone who's so afraid of not winning he doesn't even try.''"
-->-- '''Grandpa'''

Richard (Creator/GregKinnear), the father, is an aspiring but failing motivational speaker who has plunged all his time and money into his Nine Steps program. His wife Sheryl (Creator/ToniCollette) is a homemaker and mother of Olive and Dwayne (Creator/PaulDano). Dwayne, Sheryl's son from a previous relationship, is a brooding teenager with an obsession with Nietzsche, who's taken a vow of silence until he achieves his dream of becoming an Air Force pilot. Olive is a precocious little girl with a close relationship to her grandfather. Edwin (Creator/AlanArkin), Richard's father, is a dirty, debauched old man with a sharp sense of humor and irony. Rounding out the clan is Sheryl's brother, Frank (Creator/SteveCarell), a bitterly sarcastic scholar who just tried to commit suicide over losing his job and the man he loves.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:None of the Hoovers get what they want. Dwayne can't enlist in the Air Force due to him being colourblind, Richard's program doesn't sell, Frank's still nowhere close to fixing his life, Edwin's dead, and Olive didn't even win the pageant (and in fact is prohibited from participating in any more pageants in the state of California). But everyone's matured considerably from the whole ordeal and the family is now closer than it's ever been.]]

* ChaoticCarRide: A DysfunctionalFamily reluctantly goes on a road trip to get their youngest member signed up for a beauty pageant. Predictably, a lot of arguments ensue during the car ride.

It's a touching and sweet film, with a very sinister edge, and became a huge hit with artsy critics and casual film fans alike.

* TheMusical: [[http://www.sandiego.com/arts/little-miss-sunshine-at-the-la-jolla-playhouse Yes, really.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: "You started [[DrugsAreBad snorting heroine]]? [[spoiler: Those stuff will kill ya']]."

* ChildrenAreInnocent: Played straight with Olive throughout the movie, [[spoiler: and then hilariously subverted with her burlesque routine.]] The other pageant contestants are a subversion: they deliberately wear revealing outfits and perform sensual routines despite being no more than ten.

* DrivingStick: The only way they can start the Bus is by pushing it and popping the clutch.