The little move that grew into the surprise hit of 2006 had a solid pre-Oscar evening at the Spirit Awards. The dramatic comedy about a families trip to get their daughter to the Little Miss Sunshine Beauty Pageant took home four awards.

The road comedy “Little Miss Sunshine” won best picture and three other prizes for independent films at the Spirit Awards on Saturday, one day before competing for Hollywood’s top honors at the Academy Awards.

The hilarious though dark-tinged tale of a deeply dysfunctional family also won the supporting-actor award for Alan Arkin; best director for the husband-and-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, and best first screenplay for Michael Arndt.

Filed under: Movies