Little Miss Sunshine makes very good use of the 3 Act Structure that many movies in Hollywood follow today. The script uses a "happy ending structure" and applies a quest in the plot, making the 3 Act Structure all the more suitable.
The movie begins with Act I, where we are introduced to the individual members of the Hoover family. We see the father, Richard, a one-dimensional motivational speaker trying to promote his guaranteed to work "Nine Steps to Success." Then there's Sheryl, his wife who must pick up her homosexual brother Frank,who has just failed at an attempted suicide after his lover left him for an academic rival, from the hospital. They have a son Dwayne, who has sworn himself into silence until he is admitted into the Air Force, and a young daughter, Olive, a rather average looking girl who dreams of winning the Little Miss Sunshine Beauty Pageant. Finally, there is Edwin, Richard's cocaine sniffing, foul-mouthed father. Together, this dysfunctional family sits at a painfully awkward dinner, as conflicting personalities collide. This act introduces the characters and provides a look at their life, before plot point #1 occurs. Olive gets a call from California stating that she has a place in the beauty pageant and must get their immediately if she wants to participate. As a result, the dysfunctional, awkward family must drop everything they're doing and try to deal with each other and drive Olive to her beauty pageant.
Act II is my favorite part of the movie, because I found the family's attempts to get along with each other very entertaining. Many little complications are brought up, including Richard's book deal falling through, the troubles of traveling on a Volkswagen bus that must be pushed every time when first put into drive, Frank awkwardly running into an ex-lover, and the family forgetting Olive at a Gas Station. This act is the longest, dealing with the family's journey together as personalities conflict and sometimes bond over Olive's cause. Complications get more intense when Edwin dies in a motel the family stays at overnight. When the hospital will not let them take Edwin's body, the family protects his honor by smuggling it from the hospital and into their trunk. The family is even stopped by a state trooper who checks the trunk, but is fortunately distracted by Edwin's porn collection and does not see his body. The situation worsens when Olive gives Dwayne an eye test that reveals that he is colorblind. Dwayne is enraged, knowing that he cannot join the Air Force if he is colorblind. The car is forced to halt, when Dwayne loses his composure and runs out of the car screaming and cursing the family and refusing to continue the journey with them. He is finally convinced to get back in the car after Olive gives him a hug. Finally they arrive to the beauty pageant. As the parents check Olive into the pageant, Frank and Dwayne explore the area and are disgusted by the fake overdone make up and tanned little girls strutting around. They both agree that they cannot let Olive compete in such a pageant with those little girls. Not wanting to see her get hurt, they attempt to get through to the parents who decide that they cannot do anything, and they must "let Olive be Olive." The act ends with the family nervously watching the pageant take place.
Act III is the shortest and contains the climax and resolution, which in this case is Olive's highly anticipated routine. No one has seen it except for Edwin who choreographed it. After seeing all the perfect little girls routines, the family anxiously awaits Olive's. Finally she gets on stage and begins performing a strip-burlesque routine to "Superfreak"completely unaware of its meanings. The audience is shocked and the pageant makes moves to stop the routine. But before they can, the Hoovers immediately step up in support of Olive. They begin by cheering loudly, but end up running one after the other on stage and dancing obnoxiously with her. I would define this moment as the climax. Olive is in joy dancing alongside her family. Although the police have banned Olive from ever participating in a California beauty pageant again, the family has bonded deeply and are completely content with themselves and their accomplished goal: taking Olive to the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. The movie is ended on a sweet note as the family gets back inside their volkswagen bus, of course having to push it first, and embark on a sweet journey home.
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