Convinced their little Olive (Abigail Breslin) is beauty queen material, parents Richard (Greg Kinnear) and Sheryl (Toni Collette) load the rest of the family into a van and embark on a life-altering road trip to a California pageant. Richard pushes Olive to win while her silent brother (Paul Dano), depressed uncle (Steve Carell) and nursing-home reject grandpa (Alan Arkin, in an Oscar-winning role) add their own quirks to the mix.