Kory Richmond: Assignment 2

The film Little Miss Sunshine is about a dysfunctional family that goes on a journey to Redondo Beach, California from Albuquerque, New Mexico to watch seven-year old Olive Hoover participate in Little Miss Sunshine pageant .Olive has dreamed of becoming Miss America, or at the very least, of competing in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. Her teenaged brother, Dwayne, dreams of becoming a fighter pilot, but in the meantime has discovered Nietzsche, hates “everyone”, and refuses to talk. Her grandfather is a cocaine- and porn-addicted, but is nonetheless preparing Olive for the pageant. Uncle Frank, a renowned expert on the work and life of Marcel Proust, has just checked out of a psych ward after trying to commit suicide over losing his lover to another man. Olive's dad is a motivational speaker with a 9-step program that he hopes will win him fame and fortune, but for now attracts a handful of attendees in public school classrooms. And mom is a nervous wreck, chain smoking and trying to prevent the family from imploding. The resulting road trip is filled with misadventures, starting with dad's business venture. His agent is having trouble pitching the 9 steps, even though dad has spent the family's entire savings on the attempt. Dad drives from one highway payphone to another, trying to reach the agent, waiting desperately for a call on his cellphone. Grandpa tries to impart to his grandson important life lessons about having sex with lots of girls while he is still young. At a highway gas station and rest stop, Uncle Frank picks up some hard-core porn for Grandpa which later proves valuable in getting the highway patrol off the family's case as they near Los Angeles.

When Grandpa has a sudden, fatal, heart attack in his motel room during the trip, the family must make arrangements to dispose of the body, out-of-state. But they're also running late in getting Olive to the pageant. Dad's ingenuity resolves the problem, for a while. The camper van is, however, in an increasingly precarious state, and, if Grandpa's untimely death doesn't prevent the family from making it to Little Miss Sunshine, the state of the camper van just might. Then again, Dwayne's roadside emotional breakdown can't possibly help matters. Dwayne learns, during the trip, that he will not be able to fulfill his dream of becoming a fighter pilot and, devastated by the realization of being colorblind, he urges the family to leave him by the side of the road and to continue on their way. Against all odds, all of the family members, living and dead, make it, with seconds to spare, to the pageant. Competition among the pre-adolescent girls is fierce, and Olive's chances of success look slim. Somehow it is Olive who helps them overcome their personal crises and come together in a common cause.

Words: Dysfunctional, Family, Journey, Self-Discovery, and Acceptance. This a Comedy-drama/Adventure film about a dysfunctional family's journey to California for a beauty pageant where they learn about self-discovery and acceptance of each other flaws.