Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" labeled the film with a 'C' rating, calling the characters "walking, talking catalogs of screenwriter index-card data". Jim Ridley of "The Village Voice" called the movie a "rickety vehicle that travels mostly downhill" and a "Sundance clunker". Liam Lacey of "The Globe and Mail" criticized the film, stating "Though "Little Miss Sunshine" is consistently contrived in its characters' too-cute misery, the conclusion, which is genuinely outrageous and uplifting, is almost worth the hype." Anna Nimouse of "National Review" wrote that the film "is praised as a 'feel-good' film, perhaps for moviegoers who like bamboo under their fingernails. If you are miserable, then "Little Miss Sunshine" is the film for you". "Paste Magazine" named it one of the 50 Best Movies of the Decade (2000–2009), ranking it at #34.