The best thing about American cinema is that besides the studio-assembled big ticket movies, there's also the flourishing indie film movement which keeps throwing up some delightfully refreshing movies.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 24, 2019

It doesn't exploit its characters for comedy or life lessons; it simply embraces the family members and lets them be themselves.

Full Review | Mar 24, 2007

All indie-movie families may start out unhappy in their own way, but by the time the final credits roll, everyone remains complacent, confident of their brood's superiority.

| Original Score: 2/6 | Feb 3, 2007

... a scrappy human comedy that takes an honest path to laughs and is twice as funny and touching for it.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 10, 2006

... this isn't much more than a glorified sitcom, but it deftly dramatizes our conflicting desires for individuality and an audience to applaud it.

| Nov 10, 2006

This is a likeable, funny road movie about a dysfunctional family, but you know you've been down the same road before.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 15, 2006

For a movie generated from the Amerindie algorithm of family dysfunction, road-trip catharsis and studied quirk, this dark-edged ensemble comedy often borders on the loveable.

| Sep 23, 2006

Each spike of satire is fitted with a safety-cap of feelgood reassurance.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 23, 2006

... this sparkling little gem takes the family road movie to unhoped-for heights of hilarity and humanity.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 23, 2006

Heart-stoppingly tender and outrageously hilarious.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Sep 2, 2006

The film is bountiful with unconventionality and quirk, but at the end of the day, it's a traditional story that delivers in a satisfying way.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 19, 2006

The funniest and most gracefully written, acted and directed dysfunctional-American-family farce comedy of the year thus far.

Full Review | Aug 16, 2006

Dayton and Faris satirize our win-win culture, but they don't miss a trick promoting Little Miss Sunshine for the winner's circle.

| Original Score: B+ | Aug 14, 2006

Little Miss Sunshine makes you want to gather all the kooks in your life and take a road trip.

| Original Score: B+ | Aug 13, 2006

... a film of small and gratifying surprises.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 13, 2006

Smart and goofy, tender and laugh-out-loud funny, Little Miss Sunshine is the sleeper hit of the summer.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Aug 13, 2006

... an amusing movie, viciously well-written and brilliantly acted.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 12, 2006

... a road-trip movie with a big-enough heart to make the leap from specialty theaters to the suburban multiplex - where audiences can feel fortunate if they don't recognize themselves.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Aug 12, 2006

Unlike so many films that force life lessons down your throat, Little Miss Sunshine weaves them into the fabric of the story.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Aug 12, 2006

The word 'quirky' is overused, but Little Miss Sunshine deserves the tag. As with Napoleon Dynamite, the quirkiness in this film comes from honest characters, not desperate-to-be-different caricatures in such films as Garden State.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 10, 2006