Welcome to the new profile
We're still working on updating some profile features. To see the badges, ratings breakdowns, and polls for this profile, please go to the previous version.
Reviews3
mrsouth's rating
I'm not a pothead, and I don't watch pothead movies. So a story about a girl who gets stoned, and then gets even more stoned wouldn't normally grab me. But film festivals put you in a situation where you watch movies that wouldn't normally interest you. Usually, that's a disaster, but in the case of "Smiley Face," I couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised.
"Smiley Face" gives us one of the most lovable protagonists I've ever seen in a movie. Jane (Ana Faris) is high the entire movie, even in flashbacks, and thus is happy and childlike just about every time we see her (except when she's paranoid). Most movie characters would breeze through the minor conflicts Jane has to face, but her pot-induced mental disability turns cooking butter into a nearly impossible task. And that's part of what makes her so endearing.
"Smiley Face" gives us one of the most lovable protagonists I've ever seen in a movie. Jane (Ana Faris) is high the entire movie, even in flashbacks, and thus is happy and childlike just about every time we see her (except when she's paranoid). Most movie characters would breeze through the minor conflicts Jane has to face, but her pot-induced mental disability turns cooking butter into a nearly impossible task. And that's part of what makes her so endearing.
I had no idea what to expect when I walked into this film at SXSW. All I knew was that it was about a Muslim and a Jew who become friends. I figured it would be some kind of Movie of the Week type film with a sentimental "let's all get along" message, but it turned out to be a lot more complicated and interesting than that.
The main plot is that an Orthodox Jew (Zoe Lister Jones) and a Muslim (Frances Benhamou) work at a public school together, and find that their conservative lifestyles and impending arranged marriages make them have more in common with each other than anybody else at the school... even though Jews and Muslims as groups historically have some problems with each other.
It establishes the worlds of Orthodox Judaism and Islam so pitch-perfectly that the movie is fascinating just on the level of observing the lives of others. Though, to be sure, Orthodox Judaism does seem to get a bit more screen time, probably because the writer and the director both have more direct experience with Judaism than Islam. What we do see of both worlds is rife with similarities: both are marked by a reverence for history and tradition, and both are somewhat suspicious of people not members of their particular group. What the two lead women in this film hope to do is embrace the first part of their identities, while rejecting the second part.
Because this story is more concerned with character than multiple plot points, it would have failed without good performances. Luckily, the filmmakers found Lister-Jones and Benhamou to play the Jewish woman and the Muslim woman, respectively. They turn in two flawless performances, and prove themselves to be actresses to watch.
The main plot is that an Orthodox Jew (Zoe Lister Jones) and a Muslim (Frances Benhamou) work at a public school together, and find that their conservative lifestyles and impending arranged marriages make them have more in common with each other than anybody else at the school... even though Jews and Muslims as groups historically have some problems with each other.
It establishes the worlds of Orthodox Judaism and Islam so pitch-perfectly that the movie is fascinating just on the level of observing the lives of others. Though, to be sure, Orthodox Judaism does seem to get a bit more screen time, probably because the writer and the director both have more direct experience with Judaism than Islam. What we do see of both worlds is rife with similarities: both are marked by a reverence for history and tradition, and both are somewhat suspicious of people not members of their particular group. What the two lead women in this film hope to do is embrace the first part of their identities, while rejecting the second part.
Because this story is more concerned with character than multiple plot points, it would have failed without good performances. Luckily, the filmmakers found Lister-Jones and Benhamou to play the Jewish woman and the Muslim woman, respectively. They turn in two flawless performances, and prove themselves to be actresses to watch.