Editor's note: Looking for unusual movie fare via DVD? "Little Miss Sunshine," which some Hollywood observers say has a fighting chance at Academy Award nominations, might just fit the bill. It's rated R.

An R-rated family film may seem a contradiction in terms, but "Little Miss Sunshine," a plucky little in-your-face movie, pulls it off with a great ensemble cast. It's about the underlying love and loyalty that make a family even out of a seemingly dysfunctional mix of people who vocally object to being related.

Everyone's a bit twisted, from the porn-obsessed druggie grandpa (Alan Arkin) to a depressed, gay Proust scholar (Steve Carell) and a lecturing dad relentlessly hawking a self-help success program (Greg Kinnear). But they all pull together to help little Olive fulfill her dream of going to a beauty contest (Abigail Breslin, in a sweetly vulnerable performance that steals the heart).